The worldwide demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly because of the climate problem, and also because oil resources are limited. Wind energy appears as a clean and good solution to cope with a great part of this energy demand. In Denmark for example, 20% of the electricity is produced from wind, and plans are towards reaching 50%. As space is becoming scarce for the installation of onshore wind turbines, offshore wind energy, when possible, seems as a good alternative. This work describes, for Europe and North America, the potential for offshore wind energy, the current status of this technology, and existing plans for the development of offshore wind parks. It also presents existing as well as promising new solutions for offshore wind energy. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.