Fueled by the spread of innovative financing programs centered around the leasing model, growth in the installation of small and medium wind power systems is accelerating.
In the long term, however, the overall outlook for the small and medium wind market in each country will be determined by whether the industry can reduce costs and survive in the face of declining or disappearing government subsidies. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, worldwide revenue from SMWTs will grow from US$ 1 billion in 2015 to nearly US$ 2.4 billion in 2023. Growth in small wind power, to date, has been tied to state and federal incentives in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the USA. There are many signs that the industry is maturing, including certification requirements, the hundreds of manufacturers located around the world, expanding dealer networks, and a growing number of state- and federal-level industry associations. In addition, an increasing number of applications are being enabled by the interest and investment in microgrids and hybrid systems that that integrate small wind with solar PV and diesel generators, among other renewable distributed energy generation technologies (RDEG). According to Navigant Research, global annual installations of SMWTs are expected to grow from an estimated 254.9MW in 2014 to 587.7MW in 2023.