The report documents, for the first time, the status of small wind turbines all over the world.
It found that there are 656,000 small wind units installed globally, with a capacity of 440MW.
The largest share of small wind turbines are in China and the US, and that increasing fossil fuel prices, global warming and the growing electricity demand are the three long-term industry drivers.
29 March 2012: The Asian Development Bank’s Energy For All initiative has announced the release of the World Wind Energy Association’s (WWEA’s) report titled “2012 Small Wind World Report,” which documents the status of small wind turbines all over the world for the first time.
According to the Energy For All website, the report found that there are 656,000 small wind units installed globally, with a capacity of 440MW. The largest share of small wind turbines are in China and the US, with 166MW and 179MW respectively, with China also leading manufacture and installation.
The report’s summary includes sections on factors driving installation, focusing on: costs, policies, standards and certifications, and a wind resource assessments. It also includes a market forecast to 2020 which predicts that increased political support will continue to increase the installation rate of small wind, but that in the longer term the small wind industry will slowly evolve from a policy-driven industry to one based on the productivity and affordability of the turbines themselves. It notes increasing fossil fuel prices, global warming and the ever-growing electricity demand as the three long-term drivers of the small wind industry.
The report was released at the Third World Summit for Small Wind which convened as part of the New Energy Fair in Husum, Germany, on 15 March 2012. [Energy For All Press Release] [2012 Small Wind World Report Summary]