Interactive Offshore Wind Farm Map: Explore AI-Detected Structures Worldwide
This interactive offshore wind farm map displays AI-detected offshore wind structures worldwide, sourced from Global Fishing Watch‘s SAR Fixed Infrastructure dataset. Covering detections from 2017 to 2025, the map spans the North Sea coasts of the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark; China’s coastal provinces in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea; the US East Coast; Taiwan; Japan; South Korea; and emerging markets in France, Portugal, and beyond.
How to Use This Map
Filtering by Detection Confidence
Use the High, Medium, and Low checkboxes in the toolbar to show or hide structures by detection confidence. High-confidence detections are the most reliably identified offshore wind structures. Low-confidence detections may include other fixed marine infrastructure. The structure count in the toolbar updates as you change filters.
Exploring Individual Structures
Click any marker to open a pop-up with the structure’s confidence level, first and last detection date, total duration in days, and latitude/longitude coordinates. Structures still active as of the latest update show “Still active” in the pop-up.
Sharing a View
The Share button copies a URL that preserves the current map position, zoom level, and active confidence filters. Useful for pointing colleagues to a specific wind farm region.
Offshore Wind by Region
North Sea: UK, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark
The North Sea hosts the densest concentration of offshore wind in Europe. The United Kingdom operates some of the world’s largest wind farms, including Hornsea One and Two off the Yorkshire coast, Dogger Bank in the central North Sea, and large arrays in the Thames Estuary and off East Anglia. The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have substantial capacity in the southern North Sea, while Denmark has clusters in both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Zoom into the southern North Sea on the map to see the scale of the region’s offshore wind footprint.
China: World’s Largest Offshore Wind Fleet
China has become the world’s largest offshore wind market by installed capacity. The majority of Chinese offshore wind is concentrated along the Jiangsu, Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang coastlines, with significant development in Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea. On the map, China’s east coast shows a density of AI-detected structures that dwarfs most other regions.
US East Coast Offshore Wind
The United States offshore wind industry is centred on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coast, with projects off Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind, South Fork Wind), New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. Compared to Europe and China, the US fleet is smaller but growing. The Gulf of Mexico is also emerging as a potential future offshore wind zone.
Asia-Pacific: Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea
Taiwan is developing offshore wind at scale in the Taiwan Strait, one of the windiest shallow-water zones in Asia. Japan has fixed-bottom and demonstration floating projects around Akita, Chiba and Nagasaki. South Korea is pursuing large-scale projects in the Yellow Sea and South Sea.
Northwestern Europe: France, Scandinavia, and Beyond
France is building its first commercial offshore wind farms in the English Channel and Atlantic, off Normandy, Brittany and the Pays de la Loire coast. Sweden has offshore capacity in the Baltic Sea. Norway has pioneered floating offshore wind with the Hywind project and is expanding domestically. Portugal is developing floating offshore wind in the Atlantic.
About the Data
This map uses the Global Fishing Watch SAR Fixed Infrastructure dataset, which applies machine learning to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite imagery to detect fixed structures at sea. The dataset distinguishes offshore wind infrastructure from oil and gas platforms and other fixed marine structures. Detections are updated monthly and cover 2017 to 2025.
Detection confidence is assigned by the AI model: high-confidence detections closely match known wind farm geometries; medium and low-confidence detections may include non-wind structures or uncertain identifications. The map is suited to exploratory analysis rather than as an authoritative wind farm registry.
For authoritative offshore wind data, cross-reference with The Crown Estate (UK), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (USA), or 4C Offshore.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many offshore wind structures are shown on the map?
The total count is displayed in the map toolbar and updates based on your active confidence filters. The dataset covers all major offshore wind regions worldwide.
What is SAR, and how does it detect wind turbines?
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) uses radar pulses to create high-resolution satellite images regardless of cloud cover or daylight. Fixed offshore structures such as wind turbines appear as bright point targets in SAR imagery, making them detectable by machine learning models even at scales too small to resolve in optical imagery.
Can I view offshore wind farms in specific countries?
Yes. Navigate the map to any coastline to explore its offshore wind footprint. The largest concentrations are off the coasts of China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Taiwan, the United States and South Korea.
Why do some detections have low confidence?
The AI model assigns lower confidence when a detection’s radar signature is ambiguous or inconsistent with typical wind turbine patterns. Low-confidence detections are included for completeness but should be interpreted with caution.
Is the data updated in real time?
No. The dataset is updated monthly, so recently installed structures may not yet appear.
Can I download the offshore wind data?
The underlying dataset is available from Global Fishing Watch under their data access terms.
