The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and more than 50 companies and organisations involved in floating offshore wind have called for coordinated government and industry action to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology.
The call is set out in the Action Statement for Accelerating Floating Wind, agreed on by the Floating Wind Industry Accelerator (FWIA), following ten months of consultations with stakeholders across the global value chain.
GWEC established FWIA in December 2025, bringing together developers, manufacturers, suppliers, investors, insurers and technical experts. The group has identified three areas for joint action: reducing floating wind costs, expanding access to finance and insurance, and scaling supply chains, infrastructure and standardisation.
The initiative aims to help first commercial-scale floating wind projects reach final investment decisions (FIDs) before 2030 and support the sector’s expansion during the following decade.
"Floating wind’s future success requires governments to work hand-in-hand with industry to seize the opportunities in front of us. If we act collectively and decisively, we can move faster and help to unlock billions of euros in future investment into the sector”, said Michael Hannibal, Chair of GWEC.
A key recommendation in the action statement is for governments to turn floating wind targets into investable project pipelines through credible auction schedules, suitable revenue mechanisms and timely decisions on ports, grid connections and permitting.
FWIA also called for auction systems that prioritise project deliverability and bankability, revenue mechanisms that reflect project costs, and measures to address changes outside developers’ control after auctions. It also urged governments to use public finance alongside private capital to reduce project risks and financing costs.
The group said governments should also invest in enabling port and grid infrastructure, establish clear national supply chain objectives and create predictable market conditions to support investment in manufacturing and other parts of the supply chain.
According to GWEC, countries including the UK, France, Norway, Spain, Portugal, South Korea and Japan have established floating wind targets totalling around 90 GW of capacity by 2045.
Around 370 MW of floating wind demonstration projects are currently in operation globally, while projects totalling about 2 GW have active offtake contracts. Another 5.5 GW is expected to be offered through forthcoming auctions in France, Ireland, Norway, South Korea and the UK.
Earlier this year, the global organisation also called on governments worldwide to accelerate offshore wind deployment and treat offshore wind projects as critical energy infrastructure, warning that a faster build-out is necessary to strengthen energy security and reduce exposure to future energy market shocks.
“Floating wind has the potential to occupy an important space in the future energy landscape, giving countries with deep coastal waters a path to generating offshore wind energy. To make this a reality and begin floating wind’s next phase, we need to move it from being just a proven technology to being a commercially successful asset class”, said Rebecca Williams, Deputy CEO of GWEC.