Dongfang Electric Corp. in China’s Fujian Province announced it had begun making offshore wind turbines able to produce up to 26 megawatts (MW). Elsewhere in China, SANY Renewable Energy unveiled a 15-MW onshore turbine, a new record. Both are products of an international drive toward greater wind production targets.

Wind is also growing at the other end of the size scale. Distributed wind power, which includes projects of a single turbine producing just a few kilowatts (kW) up to multiturbine installations up to 20 MW, provides carbon-free electricity across the country—and it’s growing.

A report tracking the technology’s adoption in 2023 shows a rise in installations over the previous two years. Federal incentives introduced during the Biden administration might push opportunities further.

Market growth

Distributed wind, like distributed solar, is often installed to support on-site, behind-the-meter operations. The turbines can be connected to add supplies to the local grid, with monthly utility bill credits as compensation. 

The industry experienced a bit of a gold rush in the early 2010s, with a raft of manufacturers producing micro-sized units for rooftops and parking lots that failed to live up to production promises. More recently, though, certification programs have narrowed the field to a smaller number of companies marketing field-tested turbines.

The 2024 Distributed Wind Market Report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) shows total installations climbed in 2023, but capacity decreased. A total of 1,999 new distributed wind turbines with a capacity of 10.5 MW were installed across 16 states, with a total investment of $37 million. While this is a jump from 2022’s 1,755 new turbines, total capacity dropped from that year’s 29.5 MW total. Almost 90% of 2023’s installed capacity was deployed for on-site use, with the remainder going to local grids, according to the report.

These figures are small, compared to the 6,474 MW of total onshore wind added in 2023—but distributed wind is a niche market. For starters, wind turbines need space to perform. Even a small-scale unit of 100 kW or less generally requires at least an acre, obstacle free, to allow for setbacks from neighbors and property lines and address human concerns like noise, shadow flicker and ice throw. Adding more turbines quickly bumps up space requirements further.

However, for large-acreage farmers, wind turbines could be easier to accommodate than a solar array with similar output, because the monopoles take up far less room than panels do, with grazing and planting able to continue around their bases.

Researchers still see opportunities for adding new capacity. In its 2022 Distributed Wind Energy Futures Study, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found potential for the United States to profitably deploy nearly 1,400 gigawatts of distributed wind capacity. Favorable regulations and policies could boost opportunities even higher.

Incentives growing

Distributed wind advocates were heartened that the Biden administration specifically included it in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act. That legislation provided approximately $145 million for deployment of underutilized energy technologies through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program. This plan, called the Rural and Agricultural Income and Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE) initiative, has a goal of helping 400 individual farmers deploy smaller-scale wind projects with grants and guaranteed loans. Additionally, state-level organizations had the opportunity to apply for technical assistance grants to develop programs to shepherd applicants through the application process.

An additional $2.5 million is being used to support testing, certification and commercialization of these technologies, along with $1.5 million for outreach and development of new business models for farmers interested in distributed wind. 

RAISE funding appears to have made a difference in the number of installations in 2023. The PNNL report notes that the number of new turbines installed jumped significantly between 2022 and 2023, though the size of those turbines fell. This indicates greater adoption of lower-­production applications—exactly those projects most likely to require assistance to justify upfront installation expenses.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Distributed Wind Market Report 2024