First half 2023 statistics for the offshore wind sector have been released by Clarksons Research. Reviewing the data, Steve Gordon, Managing Director of Clarksons Research commented:

• Offshore wind’s growth phase continues, with increased project sanctioning and further growth of installed capacity.
• Newbuild investment for dedicated wind vessels (WTIVs, C/SOVs and CTVs) remains strong.
• The European WTIV and ‘Walk-To-Work’ markets have firmed seasonally, with a generally encouraging medium term outlook.
• Energy Transition and energy security trends to support further growth of the global offshore wind sector.

Strengthening FID Activity

• Offshore wind FID activity strengthened in the first half of 2023. A total of $21.1bn of project CAPEX was committed by developers, up 59% y-o-y on an annualized basis following a softening of FID activity in 2022 (high inflation and rising interest rates impacted) (2022: $26.6bn, down 36% y-o-y).
• Strengthening sanctioning activity has been supported by investment in large-scale European projects ($10.9bn has been committed in Europe vs $2.4bn for full year 2022), while $10.2bn has been committed in Asia (including $6bn for projects covered by the 14th Five-Year Plan in China).
• Developers and suppliers continue to face significant margin pressures, especially in Europe and the US amid elevated inflation and rising interest rates, impacting some project viability.
• Global active offshore wind capacity stands at 62.8 GW (across 12,440 turbines and 284 farms), with 9.4 GW on track to start-up in 2023; we project global active offshore wind capacity to grow by 15% across full-year 2023.

Robust Newbuild Vessel Ordering

• Wind vessel newbuild ordering remains strong, with 66 dedicated wind vessel orders (WTIV, C/SOV and CTV) of $1.9bn placed globally in 1H 2023, up 20% on last year's record 110 orders ($6.1bn) an annualized basis.
• C/SOV ordering activity remains particularly strong; 12 C/SOV orders were placed globally in 1H 2023 including a number of “speculative” orders, equaling last year's record run rate (24 orders placed in 2022). Meanwhile, 5 WTIV orders were reported globally in 1H 2023 (4 by Chinese owners, 1 international), with activity having eased back following record newbuild orders last year (30 orders, albeit 26 were Chinese owners for principally domestic market use).
• Owners have continued to focus on supporting developers to be ‘green through the supply chain’, especially in the C/SOV sector; all 46 C/SOVs on order are set to feature battery packs, while 9 are set to be alternative fuel capable, including 7 methanol dual-fuel units.

Tightening Wind Vessel Markets

• The European WTIV market remains strong, with WTIV utilization in the region having firmed seasonally to reach 91% at the start of June. The trend towards longer-term WTIV charters has continued to develop with the European market expected to tighten towards the middle of the decade; several developers have booked WTIVs on multi-year charters to secure future installation capacity.
• Meanwhile, the European 'W2W' market is expected to remain very tight across the summer of 2023; rate assessments for >40 pax SPS 'W2W' units are up ~35% y-o-y.

Energy Transition & Energy Security in Focus

• We expect the offshore wind sector to play a vital role in global energy transition; offshore wind could provide between 7% and 9% of global energy supply by 2050 (it is just 0.4% today; see the Clarksons Research Energy Transition Model for more details) supported by energy security requirements and Energy Transition trends. Globally, our projections suggest ~250 GW of active capacity and ~30,000 active turbines by 2030 (today there is 62.8 GW and 12,440 turbines).

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