WoodMac: Growth in wind power capacity likely to be lower

The expected increase in installed capacity across all wind farms worldwide is likely to be lower than expected over the next decade. The reasons are financial problems in the US offshore wind industry and an overly slow permitting process, combined with sluggish construction in China. The Reuters news agency reports, citing consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Orsted, one of the world’s leading offshore wind developers, along with energy giant BP and Norway’s Equinor, has written off hundreds of millions of dollars from its US offshore wind portfolios. The companies are responding to rising financing costs and delivery delays in the sector.

Wood Mackenzie has cut its forecast for global installed wind power capacity by the end of 2032 by 29 gigawatts (GW). The projected cumulative installed capacity has therefore fallen slightly to 2.35 terawatts.

The reduction represents a change of less than 2% in expected capacity, with more than 80% of the cut stemming from project development problems, including in key markets such as the United States and China.

The offshore sector faces obstacles in Europe, the US and China

The cancellation of the Ocean Wind project in New Jersey, combined with supply chain problems, is expected to delay nearly 8 GW of US offshore projects until after 2032. This will affect US targets, with the country expected to reach only about half of its goal of installing a total of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

The consultancy also said that short-term signals from a sluggish Chinese market had led it to cut its global wind capacity forecast by 12 GW. The main reasons are tighter project permitting requirements and project cancellations. However, it should be noted that China’s outlook for onshore wind power from 2026 to 2032 remains unchanged, despite short-term challenges.