Offshore wind cables to be GBP-13.6bn market over 10 yrs

The global market for offshore wind cables is expected to be worth GBP 13.6 billion (USD 17.3bn/EUR 15.3bn) between 2018 and 2028, if all projects in the pipeline are realised, RenewableUK said today.

According to a report, being launched at RenewableUK's Cables 2018 event in Aberdeen, the UK will be the biggest market over the next 10 year, worth GBP 3.64 billion, as the country is expected to install over 19 GW of capacity that will need more than 9,300 km of cables. China is forecast to require 6,550 km and Germany over 4,400 km in the same period.

The annual rate of cable installations is seen to almost double in the next six years and to peak in 2024, when over 4,300 km of array and export cables will be installed worldwide under GBP 1.7 billion of contracts. Installations will be led by the UK, Germany, Taiwan and the US. China, France and the Netherlands will also become significant players in the next decade. Poland and Ireland will enter the market too.

In the UK alone, installation companies are yet to be selected for more than 3,000 km of cables set to be installed in the next five years. Manufacturing contracts for over 2,400 km for UK projects in that period have also yet to be signed.

"For the first time, companies working in the offshore wind cables sector, or those wanting to get into it, can see in detail where the multi-million pound opportunities are in projects here and around the world," RenewableUK's executive director Emma Pinchbeck said of the report.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.275/EUR 1.121)

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