Global OWP Market to Grow 18% by 2023

Global offshore wind power market size will grow by over USD 17 billion during 2019-2023, at a CAGR close to 18%, said Technavio report.

Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization across the world, there has been significant growth in the global demand for electricity, particularly in emerging economies. Thus, there has been a rise in the adoption of renewable energy sources for power generation, which has led to the growth of wind power generation.

Wind and solar power registered a double-digit growth rate in 2018, mainly propelled by China, Europe, and the US. Hence, with the rising adoption of clean energy sources, the global offshore wind power market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.

Factors such as advances in wind farm development and the emergence of offshore wind turbine technologies have been helping in reducing the cost of electricity generated from offshore wind farms. This technology has also made it an attractive proposition for several countries across the world to provide clean, low-cost electricity, which can compete with fossil fuels without explicit financial support.

Also, the improvement in wind turbine technology has enabled a reduction in offshore wind power costs. Thus, a larger capacity factor and enhanced outputs will further reduce the LCOE for offshore wind farms, which will support the growth of the global offshore wind power market during the forecast period.

“More than 64% of the market share will come from the monopile substructure type. Monopile is the most commonly used foundation structure in the global offshore wind power market, owing to its ease of installation in shallow-to-medium water depths. Thus, the global offshore wind power market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to the advantages of monopile structures, and the rapid deployment of monopile structures across the world due of the presence of prominent vendors with necessary technological expertise,” says an analyst at Technavio.

To reduce the cost of wind power projects, particularly in the offshore sector, technological developments are being carried out. As a result, direct drive technology has been gaining popularity across the world. This technology reduces the number of wear-prone and rotating components in wind turbines.

The efficiency of an entire wind power system is boosted with the use of a permanent magnet generator that does not require any excitation power. Also, the simplification in the design ensures smaller dimensions and lower weight. This reduces transportation and installation costs.

For instance, General Electric's Haliade 150-6MW turbine is developed based on the direct drive wind turbine technology and provides high yield and reliability, thereby lowering the LCOE. Hence, the development of such technologically advanced components, particularly suited for offshore applications, will augment the growth of the global offshore wind power market during the forecast period.