Falling costs drive offshore wind power boom

“Offshore wind power is poised to become a leading power generation technology in a decarbonised global economy,” said Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of IRENA. “Now that onshore wind power is cost-competitive with conventional power generation technologies, more attention is shifting to offshore applications, characterised by high technical power generation potential.”

Technology innovation will be a key driver of the offshore wind boom. The report highlights upcoming innovations that will enable sector development, including next-gen wind turbines with larger blades, and floating turbines, which will open up new markets in deeper waters. These advancements, combined with other sector developments, will reduce average costs for electricity generated by offshore wind farms by 57% over time – from $170 per MWh in 2015 to $74 per MWh in 2045.

“The potential for offshore wind is enormous, but to realise it, governments must support technology innovation, and implement mechanisms to reduce technical risk and finance costs,” said Stefen Gsaenger, Secretary-General of the World Wind Energy Association. “This report from IRENA helps lay the foundation for this needed action.”

Innovation Outlook: Offshore Wind provides a set of recommendations for the effective implementation of policy mechanisms and incentive programmes that would allow offshore wind technology to realise its potential to decarbonise the energy market. Recommendations include provisioning targeted research and development funding and supporting information sharing and skills development, amongst other measures.

The report is part of the innovation outlook series, which highlights innovations and future outlooks for various renewable energy technologies. Innovation outlooks are also available for mini grids and advanced liquid biofuels.

Future technological innovations in the offshore wind sector