WASHINGTON, DC, USA, August 4, 2008. The US small wind turbine
market (<1kW-100kW) grew 14% and added 9.7 MW of new power generating
capacity in 2007, according to the
American Wind Energy
Association’s (AWEA) “AWEA
Small Wind Turbine Global Market Study 2008”.
More than 9,000 units (of which 98% were from US manufacturers) were sold with a total value of US$42 million. The total small wind generating capacity in the US is now 55-60 MW.
Annual US market growth is predicted at 14-25%, with grid-connected, residential systems of 1-10kW constituting the fastest growing market segment. “The market remains predominantly homes, farms, ranches, small businesses, industry/factories, public and private facilities and schools,” the report states.
“Consumers are eager for clean energy solutions, and a small wind system is one of the most productive ways to generate clean, reliable, fuel-free electricity,” says Randall Swisher, AWEA’s Executive Director. “To fully meet growing customer demand we need policies that make it easier and less costly to invest in small wind systems.”
According to the report, “demand is driven primarily by concerns over global warming, a desire to become ‘personally energy independent’, and rising and unpredictable costs of traditional forms of energy, particularly natural gas.”
Barriers
“Industry challenges to meeting its full potential continue to be political, financial and regulatory in nature, not technological,” the report states.
Not including state or federal incentives, the cost for small wind per W of capacity is estimated to US$3-US$5, and the cost per kWh of production to be US$0.10-US$0.15.
“Studies consistently identify cost as the single largest factor affecting the industry’s growth,” according to the report. Currently there are no federal incentives for small wind, although several individual states have incentives in place. AWEA also estimates that the payback period for a small wind system can range from six to 30 years in a country where homes are owned for an average of only six years.
The AWEA and small wind system advocates are therefore still calling for a 30% investment tax credit (ITC). It is estimated that an ITC could lead to 40-50% annual growth, similar to that seen for solar photovoltaic (PV) market following the adaptation of a federal ITC for solar in 2005.
Impractical and prohibitive zoning practices, as well as balkanized grid interconnection standards, pose additional barriers to growth.
Possible solutions
AWEA lists a range of impact-factors that could help small wind further. One is the enactment of the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC), which is a third party independent programme set up to certify small wind systems according to a performance, safety, reliability and sound standard created by the AWEA.
Further factors include:
- Enactment of a federal ITC
- Rising energy prices
- Increased public awareness
- Grant programmes
- External investment
- State rebate programmes
- Installer certification
- State feed-in tariffs (FiTs) / buy-back rates
- Zoning and permitting
- Utility policies
|
