The UK’s offshore wind market is a rapidly growing part of the renewable energy sector.

Offshore wind is the leading renewable energy source in the UK, which provided 17.2% of the UK’s total electricity usage in 2024. With further investments expected to be announced in due course and new technologies being developed, the UK’s offshore wind market is set to remain a global renewable energy leader.

What is offshore wind?

The offshore wind market consists of wind farms that are situated in open or large bodies of water such as lakes, seas, and oceans. Offshore wind farms generate electricity by harnessing wind power to turn the turbines, making them an effective renewable energy source.

Offshore wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the UK, due to its reliability. However, due to the location of offshore wind farms, they present logistical challenges and are expensive to install and maintain.

The current state of the UK’s offshore wind market

As it stands, the UK’s offshore wind market consists of 45 wind farms based across the UK, the majority of which can be found in the North Sea. The total electricity capacity of offshore wind is currently 14.7GW.

The UK’s offshore wind market narrowly exceeds onshore wind, which forms 12.3% of the electricity mix and is the UK’s second largest renewable energy source. Despite onshore wind’s larger electricity capacity of 15GW, it is a slightly less reliable energy source as offshore wind farms experience much stronger and consistent wind speeds and weather conditions. Consequently, onshore wind provides less electricity to the grid.

Challenges the UK’s offshore wind market is facing

Whilst the renewable energy source remains the UK’s leading clean energy source, offshore wind poses many logistical challenges, such as:

• Creating infrastructure that transports large amounts of electricity from the coast to cities
• Installing turbines in deep water requires specialist knowledge, equipment, and vessels
• Maintaining turbines requires engineers to regularly head out into deep water to work in difficult conditions

Therefore, these logistical challenges can make offshore wind farms very costly. However, as offshore wind provides a consistently large amount of renewable energy to the grid, it is a vital and reliable source of energy as we approach the 2030 clean energy and 2050 Net Zero goals.

How does the UK’s offshore wind market compare globally?

A recent report from RenewableUK found that the UK has the second largest offshore wind pipeline, with 123 projects planned and 96GW of capacity predicted.

The UK is clearly a market leader for offshore wind energy. The sector are global leaders, second only to China, which has a 247GW offshore wind capacity, with the US in third place with 79GW of capacity. In the last 12 months, the global offshore wind capacity has grown 15%.

As the global offshore wind market flourishes, it will provide a competitive renewable energy source to countries that are looking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

How is the UK Government investing in the wind energy market?

As of June 2025, the offshore wind market has seen a significant rise in investment from the UK Government, Great British Energy, and The Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate, the private company that manages a diverse portfolio of lands and holdings owned by the British Monarchy, announced in June this year that it planned to invest up to £400m in capital into the offshore wind supply chain for projects across the UK. The company is also partnering specifically with leading developers to deliver 2 floating wind farms off the coast of Wales and South West England.

These two new designated projects will provide an extra 4.5GW to the offshore wind energy capacity. Requirements have been established to ensure that 3.5% of the workforce consists of apprentices and a minimum of 10% of employees be aged 19–24 and not in education, employment, or training when offered a role. The aim of this move is to reduce youth unemployment and provide jobs for individuals new to the offshore wind industry.

In combination with The Crown Estate, the Government and Great British Energy have also announced investments of £300 million into offshore wind supply chains to help drive job creation and manufacturing in the sector. This money forms part of the Government’s ‘Industrial Strategy’ and, according to Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband, this investment is earmarked “… to ensure that British companies and workers win the global race for clean energy…”, and is a vital part of, “… Britain’s green industrial revolution.”

The majority of this money is targeted at the offshore wind supply chain, such as manufacturers and developers, where delays typically occur. These delays can be costly and hinder the sector’s ability to provide clean, renewable energy to the grid as soon as possible. Therefore, the hope is that this investment will smooth out these issues and make the process more efficient.

What is the future for the offshore wind market in the UK?

The offshore wind market in the UK has an ambitious target to deliver 43-50GW of electricity by 2030, in order to meet the clean power targets set by that year. The industry currently employs 40,000 professionals, and in order to meet these high capacity targets and fill the roles needed across the many planned projects, the offshore wind market will need an additional 95,000 professionals in the sector.

New technologies are also planned to support this sector’s growth in the lead up to the 2050 Net Zero goals. Projects such as floating wind turbines, first developed in the UK in 2017, are set to increase over the next few years, with three projects already in development. Floating wind turbines are tethered to the seabed on floating platforms rather than being fixed to the seabed, like traditional offshore wind farms. This allows for farms to be placed in deeper waters, widening the area for potential development.

Overall, it is clear that the UK is not only a market leader in the global offshore wind market, but that the sector is poised to expand rapidly over the next few years. With greater investments and developments of new technology, offshore wind will be a driving force in the UK’s ability to meet 2030 clean power targets and 2050 Net Zero goals.

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