Offshore wind

Offshore wind is electricity generated by wind turbines built at sea. Most UK turbines stand on foundations fixed to the seabed in relatively shallow water; floating turbines, moored to the seabed, can reach deeper sites. Subsea export cables bring the power to a substation on land. Winds at sea are usually stronger and steadier than on land, so offshore turbines tend to run at a higher share of their rated output.

UK capacity and output

DESNZ figures for the end of 2025:

2025 was the first year in which offshore capacity overtook onshore wind capacity, although offshore has generated more since 2019. England holds about 70% of offshore capacity. Among the largest sites are Hornsea 1 and 2 off Yorkshire, along with Triton Knoll, Moray East and Seagreen. Dogger Bank, also off Yorkshire, added 585 MW in 2025 and is due to grow further in 2026. Seabed leases come from The Crown Estate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and from Crown Estate Scotland.

Contracts for Difference

Many of the large offshore wind farms built in the last decade, including Hornsea 1 and 2, Moray East and Seagreen, are supported by a Contract for Difference (CfD), which guarantees the generator a fixed price, the strike price, per megawatt-hour for a set number of years. In Allocation Round 7, published in January 2026, about 8.4 GW of offshore wind won contracts, including two floating projects. Fixed-bottom projects in England and Wales cleared at £91.20/MWh and Scotland’s Berwick Bank Phase B at £89.49/MWh, both in 2024 prices.

The 2030 range

The government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets a range of 43 to 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030, between about 2.6 and 3 times the capacity operating at the end of 2025. Grid connections, supply chains and auction results will decide whether it is reached.

Read more: Wind energy: how wind turbines power Britain.