Offshore wind industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

An industry guide is also available on the renewable energy sector.

Trends and forecasts

Useful links

Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices
Quarterly report published by EY giving scores for national renewable energy markets and infrastructure, including data for individual technologies and countries.

Energy Outlook
Annual publication from BP projecting long-term trends in energy production, trade and consumption around the world. The full report, individual region and country factsheets and Excel data tables are available to download.

Market research

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the electricity, gas and water supply industry from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including renewable energy and wind electricity generation. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK renewable energy industry. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Industry news

The Library can carry out industry news searches for ICAEW members and ACA students.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero compiles annual, quarterly and monthly statistics on a wide range of topics within the electricity industry, including:

supply and consumption;
fuel use;
plant capacity;
plant loads, demand and efficiency;
the number of power stations.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicles and cycle engines (28.11)
See Section C: Manufacturing
Production of electricity (35.11)
See Section D: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Statistics on the UK

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero compiles annual, quarterly and monthly statistics on a wide range of topics within the electricity industry, including:

supply and consumption;
fuel use;
plant capacity;
plant loads, demand and efficiency;
the number of power stations.

Office for National Statistics

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicles and cycle engines (28.11)
See Section C: Manufacturing
Production of electricity (35.11)
See Section D: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Statistics on Europe

Wind Europe

Wind Europe regularly publishes statistics on offshore wind energy with data on and analysis of:

wind installations
wind turbine manufacturers
wind farm developers and owners
turbine capacity and wind farm size
cumulative market
market outlook
trends
financing.

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicles and cycle engines (C2811)
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution (D351)

See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’.

Statistics on the Americas

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

The AWEA publishes Wind Facts at a Glance, also quarterly and annual US wind energy industry market reports, and state maps and rankings. The reports give statistics on:

new wind projects
wind capacity installed
wind projects under construction
market rankings
economic and environmental impact
manufacturing and supply chain
project finance.

Global statistics

BP

BP produces an annual Statistical Review of World Energy containing detailed data on reserves, prices, trade, production and consumption of different energy sources broken down by country, region and sector. Historical data is also available to download. The report covers oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity, renewable energy and primary energy.

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency (IEA) provides statistics on renewables and waste by country and region. Figures include:

gross electricity generation
domestic supply
transformation
energy industry own use
final consumption by sector.

The IEA also publishes several annual statistical reports on the sector, including Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report and Renewables Information. Each report contains detailed country-by-country data and analysis of historical and current market trends. They can be purchased from the OECD and IEA bookshops.

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

number of employees
number of establishments
output
value added
total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

Electricity distribution & control apparatus (3120)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

Electrical energy (17)

Employment

UK

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

science and technology professionals;
science and engineering technicians;
energy plant operatives.

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicles and cycle engines (28110)
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution (351)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

Ofgem, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, has information on licences, codes and standards regulating the market.

Energy and climate from 1 January 2021
Guidance from GOV.UK which includes information on what the renewable energy industry needs to do from 1 January 2020 when the transition period after Brexit ends.

Global

KPMG produces Taxes and incentives for renewable energy, a guide to local policies and incentives supporting renewable energy in 31 different jurisdictions.

UK key players, ratios and trends

A range of reports on this sector are available to ICAEW members and ACA students via the Library.

Valuation

Reports on this sector can be supplied by the Library to ICAEW members and ACA students.

UK benchmarking

The Library can supply benchmarking reports to ICAEW members and ACA students.

Value added

The focus of valued added (VA) is on wealth created by the company – how much wealth is created, how efficiently it is created, whether wealth is increased year by year and how it is used. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' Value Added Scoreboard highlights the importance of the largest countries, sectors and companies VA in the UK and Europe.

The scoreboard is no longer produced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills but the data may still be useful for benchmarking.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Energy UK
COWRIE (Collaborative Offshore Wind Research Into The Environment)
Energy Institute
Scottish Energy Association
Renewable Energy Association
RenewableUK (formerly the BWEA)

Europe

Africa

South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA)

Americas

Asia

Oceania

Global

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

Further resources

Energy industry guide: British Library
British Library industry guides provide listings of resources for industry-specific information, including print directories and materials held by the British Library.

Contact the British Library Business and IP Centre for more information.