Offshore wind advocates cheered recently at news that a German wind farm is going to be built entirely without government subsidy. That said, however, it seems likely that government supportwhether in the form of direct subsidies or more generally favorable policy/planning policiesis likely to be a major factor in the success (or not) of offshore wind for some time to come.

That's why it's encouraging to hear from Steve Hanley over at Cleantechnica that three nationsGermany, Denmark and Belgiumhave signed on to an agreement to support a 5-fold increase in installed offshore wind capacity in the next decade. They're not just talking about their own capacity eitherthe target is a global one, meaning an increase of capacity from today's 13.8 gigawatts to more than 60 gigawatts.

Just imagine what would happen if every nation with suitable shoreline made a similar commitment. (I'm looking at you, USA.)

According to Steve, there's hope that the agreement will eventually be signed on to by a broader coalition of ten nations who had previously pledged their support for offshore wind energy expansion. At least one of those nations, Great Britain, is currently in a state of political and environmental uncertainty as the world waits to see what its surprise election results really mean for government policy.

Either way, with China and India making more progress on emissions reductions than originally expected, France jockeying hard to seize climate leadership and large swathes of the United States still pledging to honor the Paris Agreement, this is one more encouraging sign among many that a coalition of the willing could keep climate action well on track, even if there are efforts to sabotage progress in other parts of the world.

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Three nations plan 500% increase in global offshore wind - Treehugger