According to the latest statistics released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2016 ended with a total of 14,081MW of offshore wind capacity in the world, 12,471MW of which has been installed in Europe.
Asia accounted for 1,581MW of offshore wind capacity, while North America was listed with 29MW – attributed to the Block Island Wind Farm.
Among the European countries, the UK is leading with having an estimated 5,150MW of offshore wind at the end of the last year, followed by Germany’s 4,108MW and 1,271MW in Denmark, with the Netherlands nearing the four-figure team with its 957MW.
In 2015, offshore wind capacity was at 11,637MW worldwide, while Europe accounted for 11,014MW.
When it comes to other marine renewable energy technologies, together they reached a capacity of 536MW at the end of 2016, only 3MW more than reported for the year before, according to the statistics.
Overall, global renewable energy generation capacity increased by 161GW in 2016, making the strongest year ever for new capacity additions, the Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics 2017 show.
“We are witnessing an energy transformation taking hold around the world, and this is reflected in another year of record breaking additions in new renewable energy capacity,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin . “ This growth in deployment emphasizes the increasingly strong business case for renewables which also have multiple socio-economic benefits in terms of fueling economic growth, creating jobs and improving human welfare and the environment. But accelerating this momentum will require additional investment in order to move decisively towards decarbonising the energy sector and meet climate objectives. This new data is an encouraging sign that though there is much yet to do, we are on the right path.”