WWEA has released the global small wind statistics and the Summary of the 2015 Small Wind World Report indicates that 2013 was a challenging year for the small wind industry, after several years of continuous growth.
As of the end of 2013, a cumulative total of at least 870,000 small wind turbines were installed all over the world. This is an increase of 8 % (10 % in 2012) compared with the previous year, when 806,000 units were registered. The three biggest markets, China, USA and UK, saw a decrease in the number of units installed in a year, however, still representing together 93 % of the units installed worldwide. China continues clearly to be the market leader in terms of installed units: 55,000 units were added in 2013, 15,000 less than in 2012, reaching 625,000 units installed by the end of 2013. The changes in the feed-in scheme introduced in the UK in November 2012 had a big impact on the market reducing the deployment of sub-50 kW turbines by nearly 80%. Only 500 units were installed in the UK during 2013, a decrease of 86% compared with 2012 and the lowest level for four years. The recorded small wind capacity installed worldwide has reached more than 755MW as of the end of 2013. This is a growth of 15 % compared with 2012, when 678MW registered. In 2011, 576MW were installed. China accounts for 41 % of the global capacity, the USA for 30 % and UK for 15 %. The current figures show that small wind has recently been neglected by renewable energy policymakers. Lack of policy support and administrative and bureaucratic hurdles are still the main barriers for small wind.