The offshore wind market could reach a cumulative capacity of up to 193GW by 2030 and more than 500GW by 2050, according to a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The 2018 Offshore Wind Technologies Market report forecasts the cumulative capacity to range from 154 to 193GW by 2030 and the U.S. capacity to grow to 16GW in the next ten years.
The global wind industry installed a record 5,652MW of offshore wind capacity in 2018 and by the end of the year, cumulative global offshore wind installed capacity grew to 22,592MW from 176 operating projects, the report says.
In 2018, the U.S. offshore wind energy project development and operational pipeline grew 1.4% to a potential generating capacity of 25,824MW.
According to NREL, the report highlights opportunities for the U.S. offshore wind development and provides policymakers, regulators, developers, researchers, the supply chain, and others with quantitative information about the local and worldwide market, technology, and cost trends.