2018 Global "Sorrow" and "Happiness" of Offshore Wind Power

This year, offshore wind power has become a global industry. The mature European market began to export technology and services. The new generation of large-scale offshore wind turbines was further developed, and the cost of offshore wind power was further reduced. All of this happened not only in Europe, but also in the United States. For floating offshore wind power, this year's continuous innovation and progress has made us find that the pace of large-scale commercialization is accelerating, but at the same time, we realize that there is still much work to be done to achieve this goal.

This year, the government's active policies have led many countries or regions to become “new upstarts” for offshore wind power – such as Poland and Japan – but like any fast-growing industry, there will always be twists and turns on the way forward, especially in France, as a large European country with great potential in the offshore wind power industry, especially in the commercialization of floating offshore wind power, has not been encouraged and promoted in future national energy plans.

Near the end of the year, the Taiwan region also started to waver. The management department may adjust the offshore wind power price back to the fixed price, causing developers' concerns. As for Germany, in the long run, the government will always encourage the expansion of offshore wind power development, but no specific plans have been seen in the short term

In November 2018, the German government unexpectedly withdrew from an earlier bid for offshore wind power. Earlier in 2018, the government said it would hold a renewable energy auction, and may start a special tender before the end of October, but in the end only said that it will continue to promote land-based wind power and solar tendering commitments.

However, after the disappointment, the German government brought some new hopes to the offshore wind power industry, and promised to increase the offshore wind power installed capacity target from 15GW to 20GW by 2030. Now only the government officially confirms the commitment.