In Short : Global offshore wind capacity, now at 83 GW, is projected to expand to 2,000 GW by 2050. Driven by advancing technology, lower costs, and supportive policies, offshore wind will become a cornerstone of clean energy. This massive growth is expected to cut carbon emissions, enhance energy security, and accelerate the global transition toward sustainable power systems.

In Detail :Offshore wind capacity continues to expand, with global capacity growing to almost 83 GW in 2024. This indicates an opportunity to scale up deployment and strengthen offshore wind’s role in the global effort to triple renewable power capacity by 2030.

Meeting climate goals requires scaling offshore wind capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Looking ahead, the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), launched at COP27, committed to reach 2 000 GW by 2050. The target is ambitious, but IRENA’s analysis shows that it is feasible, and a new podcast episode with IRENA experts breaks down why:

Offshore wind technologies such as larger turbines and fixed-foundation designs are the most common type of installation. These technologies have advanced and become the most mature of the offshore renewables’ technologies, leading to cost reductions and making offshore wind a competitive energy source. Between 2010 and 2024, installed costs offshore wind declined by 48%, leading to a 62% decline in levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) over the same period, reaching USD 0.079/kWh in 2024. With LCOE and 115 countries having the potential to generate offshore wind energy, the technology has a strong business case to be scaled up.

Public-private collaboration is a key lever for accelerating the deployment of offshore wind. Multilateral initiatives like GOWA provide a global platform for collaboration and alignment between governments, industries, and local communities. Through GOWA, public and private sector actors across the offshore wind value chain join hands to support member countries in reaching 2 000 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050. Together, they address the major building blocks such as framework conditions, financial de-risking, system integration, and socio-economic benefits. This in turn, can accelerate the uptake of offshore wind globally.

AI and digital technologies can address the unpredictability and intermittent nature of offshore wind energy. Digitalisation enables real-time performance monitoring and smart maintenance based on weather forecast and analysis. For example, digital tools can enable predictive maintenance by analysing turbine data to prevent failures and optimise power output, reducing emergency repairs and downtime at offshore wind farms. These innovations can reduce operational costs by minimising unplanned downtime, and maximise power output by extending the operational lifetime of offshore wind turbines. This resulting efficiency makes offshore wind more attractive for investors.

Ultimately, the most important driver that can push the scale up further is enabling policy frameworks. Governments must put in place specific targets for offshore wind capacity, as done by over 30 member countries of GOWA. Specific targets outlined in national energy roadmaps and/or Nationally Determined Contributions signal opportunities for investors. When those roadmaps are supported by streamlined permitting protocols, governments can mobilise investments as investors’ confidence to support offshore wind projects become higher.

Listen to IRENA’s podcast, All Things Renewable, in which Simon Benmarraze from IRENA and Rikke Povlsen from GOWA explore the technical and commercial viability of GOWA’s ambitious target of 2,000 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050 and explain ways to address the environmental concerns of offshore wind deployment.

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