As the world looks for competitive, zero carbon energy sources that can be deployed at scale and in relatively fast time frames, offshore wind is in greater demand than ever before on the world stage. The market will become truly global over the next five years.
Capacity will grow, especially in Asia and the first largescale offshore installations are expected in North America towards 2022 or 2023. So, whilst currently, eight per cent of the new installations are offshore, we expect this share to jump to 22 per cent by 2023.
To achieve or even exceed this growth ambition, we are focusing a large part of our activities on promising markets and providing guidance on wind potential, technical development and regulatory structures through the Global Offshore Wind Task Force. Chaired by Alastair Dutton and supported by offshore wind energy pioneer Henrik Stiesdal, the Task Force convenes some of our industry’s greatest minds on offshore technology, consisting of leading developers, investors and manufacturers in the sector, as well as technical experts and inter-governmental organisations.
Since its inception in October, the Task Force has already been an important hub for the industry’s efforts to promote the growth of offshore wind. In late 2018 and early this year, we were a leading force in ensuring the significant and promising market of Taiwan was able to stay the course and find the right compromise between regulators and industry to ensure the long-term success of that market.
In March, we announced a landmark partnership with the World Bank Group’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the International Finance Corporation on efforts to accelerate the uptake of offshore wind in emerging markets. ESMAP is a partnership between the World Bank and 18 partners to help low and middle-income countries reduce poverty and boost growth, through environmentally sustainable energy solutions.
