reviewed both internally and externally prior to publication for purposes of external review and the study benefited from the advice and comments from a dozen individuals representing wind industry consulting firms, state agencies, wind turbine manufacturers, and other federal laboratories.

No abstract

reviewed both internally and externally prior to publication for purposes of external review and the study benefited from the advice and comments from a dozen individuals representing wind industry consulting firms, state agencies, wind turbine manufacturers, and other federal laboratories.

Distributed wind reached a cumulative capacity of almost 1 GW (906 MW) in the United States in 2014, reflecting nearly 74,000 wind turbines deployed across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; however, the state of the market is mixed. Installations of large-scale turbines (greater than 1 MW) grew almost threefold from 20.4 MW in 2013 to 57.5 MW in 2014 while the markets for distributed wind systems using small (up through 100 kW) and mid-size (101 kW to 1 MW) wind turbines continued to struggle since achieving record sales in 2008 through 2012. Small and midsize turbines added only 3.7 and 2.4 MW in 2014, respectively, compared to 5.6 and 4.4 MW, respectively, in 2013. In total, 63.6 MW of new distributed wind capacity was added in 2014, representing nearly 1,700 units (turbines) and $170 million in investment across 24 states. $20.4 million in federal, state, and utility incentives were awarded to distributed wind projects in 2014, slightly more than the $15.4 million awarded in 2013. New Mexico, Texas, and California were the top states in 2014 in terms of adding distributed wind capacity. With two large projects totaling 34.8 MW installed in 2014, New Mexico accounted for nearly 55% of the total U.S. annual capacity. Minnesota, New York, Nevada, and Iowa led the nation for the number of small wind turbines deployed in 2014. Currently, 16 states have more than 10 MW of cumulative distributed wind capacity.