Distributed wind capacity in the US could reach 20GW by 2050, if technology costs drop significantly and new business models simplify installations, according to the Department of Energy (DoE).
Installations of so-called behind-the-meter wind projects could reach 3.9GW by 2030, the department’s first assessment on their potential growth shows.
The report – ‘Assessing the Future of Distributed Wind: Opportunities for Behind-the-Meter Projects’ – states that distributed wind has the potential to play a major role in the US electricity sector.
Continued efforts to reduce the costs of distributed wind technologies and improve turbine performance will be crucial to realizing this potential.
The US currently has about 1GW of distributed wind systems, which are those installed at or near the point of end-use. This compares with more than 75GW of utility-scale wind capacity.
Distributed behind-the-meter wind systems are technically feasible at about 49.5 meter sites across the country, the report said.
For turbines with less than 1MW, the maximum resource potential is estimated at 3TW.
Image: SXC
US small wind may hit 20GW
DoE assessment shows the potential of distributed, behind-the-meter systems
By EBS