Offshore Wind Energy Market Assessment

Researchers analyze data obtained from a variety of sources about offshore wind energy projects that are both operating and under development to offer past, current, and forward-looking perspectives. Those sources, which are also validated against one another and other sources, include:

• NREL’s internal offshore wind database, detailing project characteristics, economic attributes, technical specifications, and installation as well as operations and maintenance information for 2,036 active offshore wind energy projects in 49 countries, which totals an active capacity of 1,788,670 MW
• 4C Offshore’s Wind Farm Database
• 4C Offshore’s Vessel Database
• 4C Offshore’s Project Opportunity Pipeline
• The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s online published data
• BloombergNEF’s Renewable Energy Project Database
• Wood Mackenzie’s Wind Turbine Trends.

The researchers consider four areas of the industry: the U.S. offshore wind energy market, the global offshore wind energy market, siting and technology trends, and domestic and global cost and finances.

Key Findings

In the report, the authors detail the global and domestic offshore wind energy industries to provide readers with context and help them navigate technical and market barriers and opportunities.

The 2024 assessment provides data and trends in wind energy development, technology, cost, and performance through Dec. 31, 2023, for the global wind energy industry and from Jan. 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024, for the domestic wind energy industry as well as forecasts for the near future.

The researchers’ key findings for the U.S. offshore wind energy market, as outlined in the executive summary, are:

• The pipeline grew in 2023 by 53% to a potential generating capacity of 80.5 GW, which, when built, would be enough to power about 28 million American homes.
• The first commercial-scale offshore wind power plant in the United States began delivering power from near Rhode Island (fully commissioned March 14, 2024).
• Three projects under construction in the Atlantic are expected to add 4.1 GW to the U.S. capacity.
• New lease areas were proposed in the Gulf of Maine, along Oregon’s coast, and in the Gulf of Mexico, expanding the total capacity and the industry beyond the Atlantic Ocean to include floating offshore wind farm development, which has 25 GW in the pipeline.
• Procurement goals for offshore wind energy in eight states include a total of 45.7 GW of wind energy capacity by 2040.
• $10 billion has been announced or invested in the U.S. offshore wind energy supply chain, including support for ports, vessels, and workforce, increasing investor confidence.
• Contracts have been signed for offshore wind farms to provide 12.4 GW of energy through 15 contracts in multiple states.

Their key findings, from a global perspective, on the offshore wind energy market include:

• New offshore wind installations in 2023 increased global capacity to over 68 GW of offshore wind energy from 319 operating projects, which host over 13,000 operating turbines.
• Of that capacity, 0.23 GW comes from floating structures, nearly double last year.
• With additional projects in various stages of planning and development, the offshore wind energy capacity in the pipeline totals more than 453.6 GW, with 104.4 GW from floating structures.