The global pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has expanded in the last 12 months from 285 to 316, which equates to an increase of 244GW to 266GW, or 9%, according to the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce.

Its new report – Floating Wind: Anchoring the next generation offshore – ranks the UK as second-best in the world for fully operational floating offshore wind projects.

Of the 15 fully operational projects, Norway is in the top position with 94MW (three projects) and the UK in second with 78MW (two projects), followed by China with 40MW (five projects), Portugal with 25MW (one project) and Japan with 5MW (two projects).

The report finds that, globally, 102MW are under construction (four projects), 7.3GW are consented or in the pre-construction phase (22 projects), 21.6GW are in the planning system (15 projects) and 184GW are in early development or applying for a lease.

Although Italy has the largest pipeline, with 16% of the global total (41.3GW), most of these projects are at...