According to preliminary figures released by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), 418 offshore turbines in 12 wind parks came online in 2013 in Europe, making a record 1,567 MW of new capacity and raising the offshore capacity to 6,562 MW (+34% compared to 2012). However, 2/3 of the new capacity was commissioned in the first semester of 2013, reflecting a slow down in projects. At year-end, 11 projects were under construction (14 at the end of 2012), which means that installations are likely to remain stable until 2015, followed by a decline from 2016.
During 2013, 47% of all new capacity was installed in the UK (733 MW). The share of total capacity installed in the UK was significantly less than in 2012 (73%). The second largest amount of installations were in Denmark (350 MW or 22%), followed by Germany (240 MW, 15%) and Belgium (192 MW, 12%). In terms of the number of wind turbines installed in Europe, the UK is leading with 1,082 (52%), followed by Denmark (513 wind turbines: 24.6%), Belgium (135 turbines: 7%), the Netherlands (124 turbines: 6%), Germany (116 turbines: 6%), Sweden (91 turbines: 4.37%), Finland (9 turbines: 0.4%) and Ireland (7 units), Norway, Portugal, and Spain all have one wind turbine each. DONG Energy maintains its position as the biggest owner of offshore wind power in Europe with 26% of cumulative installations at the end of 2013. Vattenfall (12%), E.ON (9%), Centrica (7%), SSE (7%), RWE (6%) and Bard (6%) follow.
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