China added nearly 7gw of offshore wind capacity in 2022. Although this was substantially down on the 12.7gw that it added in 2021, the country has maintained its leadership in the global race for new offshore wind turbine installations, according to the latest numbers from the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).
The decline in Chinese production was attributed to the expiration of a favourable Chinese feed-in tariff, which in 2021 encouraged project developers and investors to rush to commission projects before the deadline. Those who finished construction were able to lock in a premium offshore wind feed-in tariff of 0.75 – 0.85 RMB/kWh for 20 years, safeguarding them from price competition.
Last year saw a total of 9.4gw of global offshore wind capacity added, way down from the 15.6gw added in 2021. The amount of global installed offshore wind rose to 57.6gw, up from 48.1gw. China reached 25.6 GW of installed capacity. This compares with 13.6gw in the UK and 8gw in Germany. This means that 44% of the world’s total offshore wind capacity is now installed in Chinese waters.
According to the report there were 42 new offshore wind farms starting operations in 2022, of which 29 were installed in China, five in Vietnam and two in Japan. The UK, South Korea, Italy, France, Spain and Germany commissioned one wind farm each.
France and Japan installed their first large-scale offshore wind farms ever. France completed the Saint Nazaire wind farm, with a capacity of 480mw, and Japan started up the Akita/Noshiro Port wind farm, with a capacity of 140mw.
The report claimed that new offshore wind installations were set to reach 18.4gw in 2023, with mainland China contributing more than 50% of this.