Offshore wind could become a cornerstone of the world’s power supply as steep cost reductions and improved technology unleash the potential of the green energy source, said the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Renewables replacing fossil fuel is crucial to meet a globally-agreed goal of limiting temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius this century and the expansion of offshore wind could avoid 5-7 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions from the power sector globally, said the IEA.

“(But) the potential is huge,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol told Reuters. Based on current and proposed policies, capacity is set to increase 15-fold over the next two decades, turning it into a USD 1-trillion business, according to the IEA.