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State of key Offshore Wind markets, into Q4

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  So, we're three quarters of the way through 2025, and it's been somewhat of a rollercoaster for the global offshore wind sector. Here are my observations of the state of some key national markets, sorted by the footwear that I ended up acquiring in those nations in 2024 and 2025! Starting on the left, and working right. USA Represented by the Anderson Bean cowboy boots that I bought in Houston in late 2024. They're beautifully made, and supremely comfortable. I was spending a few weeks there with colleagues, having just met US project developers at the offshore wind conference of American Clean Power Association (ACP) in Atlantic City. This was during the climax of the Presidential election. I left the US just after the election result, and throughout the first three quarters of 2025 I've watched as the White House has cancelled wind farms in advanced development, or even construction. See these useful posts on Empire Wind (by Raya Peterson ) and on Revolutio...
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Haugesund's Cinderella moment in floating offshore wind?

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When visiting Haugesund in Norway recently, for Norwegian Offshore Wind's floating wind festival, I dined with a local. He told me that Haugesund had, in recent years, suffered from being "the bit in the middle - the Cinderella", in relation to maritime powerhouse Bergen (three hours up the west coast) and the hydrocarbon capital Stavanger (two hours down it). With a population of around 38,000 people, Haugesund's population is just 13% and 25% of Norway's second and third cities, respectively. Its region Haugaland gave birth to the name Norway (which means Northbound Route), and notable resident King Harald Fairhair gave us a modern descriptor. But many of its most notable people are those who emigrated  to the USA, when the herring boom ended, including the paternal grandfather of Marilyn Monroe (from where her birth name  Mortensen originates). The author taking the plunge, before the sauna, at Floating Wind Days, Haugesund, May 2025.  Modern Haugesund ...
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Is Japan ready for commercial offshore wind?

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On a recent trip to Hokkaido in Japan, I had the chance to see the operational Ishikari Bay offshore wind farm, just to the west of Sapporo. At 112MW, it may seem small, at least to those in Europe, but Ishikari is very special for Japan. Upon its  Commercial Operations Date  on 1 January 2024 it became Japan's largest offshore wind farm . It's also the first to use 8MW turbines (the most recent projects, at the ports of Akita and Noshiro, used 4.2MW models). Ishikari Bay New Port Offshore Wind Farm, 2024 Despite enjoying  30,000km of coastline , and each gigawatt of offshore wind having the ability to shave an impressive $300m p.a. off the balance of trade figures for imported fossil fuel , Japan's installed capacity of offshore wind now sits at around 280MW, inclusive of test and demonstration projects. By comparison, the UK, another island nation amongst the ten largest EEZs , has  almost 14GW . The gap has two main causes. Firstly, the UK's seabed topography is m...
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