The UK is poised to overtake Denmark as the world leading provider of offshore wind power and is set to be twice the size of any other national offshore wind market by 2015, according to a major new report from the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).

The report, entitled UK Offshore Wind: Moving up a Gear, found that the announcement of increased subsidies for offshore wind through the government's Renewables Obligation scheme had delivered a boost to the market that should ensure UK offshore wind capacity doubles within the next two years.

It predicted that UK offshore wind capacity should soar from just 200MW in 2005 to 6,300MW by 2015, providing enough energy to power over four million homes and accounting for over a third of projected global capacity.

Writing in the foreword to the report, BWEA chief executive Maria McCaffery said that with numerous large-scale projects currently in the pipeline the outlook was bright for the UK's offshore sector.

"The new confidence engendered by the publication of the Energy White Paper in May is palpable, and is in stark contrast to the uncertainty that reigned when BWEA commissioned the report 'Offshore Wind: At a Crossroads' 18 months ago," she observed. "With the largest market for offshore wind in the UK, there are huge opportunities available for British jobs and economic development, including export potential."

The report also argued that while recent concerns surrounding the supply of offshore wind turbines and related technologies were justified, shortages should not prove too serious a dampener on growth.

"Today, only two turbine suppliers, Siemens Wind Power and Vestas, have built a credible offshore pedigree, and currently Vestas has placed a moratorium on the supply of its offshore product," the report observes. "With so little choice, in the short-term the turbine market is quite distorted and not functioning as a competitive system. However, the situation is changing. German player REpower has recently installed its first offshore turbines, rated at 5MW, and Multibrid, in which French firm Areva recently bought a majority stake, is set to install its first turbines offshore in 2008, also rated at 5MW."

As a result the report predicts that supply chain constraints will only result in 300MW less capacity being available by 2015 than would have been the case under ideal market conditions. "Overall, if there is confidence in long-term stable markets, investment in supply chain solutions will follow," the report concludes.

The BWEA argued that the UK was now well positioned to benefit from much of the £40bn expected to be invested in the offshore wind sector to 2020. But it also warned that the industry's success was dependent on continued improvements in planning approvel processes, onshore grid connections and the establishment of other strong offshore wind markets in the EU.