According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind and Water Power Technologies, distributed wind power is defined by a wind project's location to the end user and power distribution infrastructure and not on the size of the technology or project.
Wind technology as a distributed energy resource is commonly referred to as distributed wind. Distributed wind energy installations generate electricity for remote communities with isolated grids or are connected to distribution grids to serve grid-connected customers.
PNNL has produced the Distributed Wind Market Report since 2012. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the distributed wind market and can help guide future investments and decisions by industry, utilities, federal and state agencies, and other interested parties.
As of end of 2024, the total wind power capacity installed across the United States stood at over 154 gigawatts. Overall, wind energy has become the largest renewable electricity source in the U.S., accounting for roughly 10 percent of electricity generation in the country.
• While no distributed wind projects using large-scale turbines were installed in 2024, GE Energy has been the only consistent U.S.-based large-scale turbine manufacturer used in distributed wind
The annual Distributed Wind Market Report provides stakeholders with statistics and analysis of the distributed wind market and insights into market trends and characteristics regarding distributed wind
The overall maximum resource potential for distributed wind turbines of less than 1 megawatt in size is estimated at 3 terawatts (TW) of capacity or 4,400 TW-hours (TWh) of
Find up-to-date statistics and facts on the wind power market in the United States
We assess both current and future scenarios to understand the opportunity now as well as how the landscape for investment in distributed wind may change in the coming years.
Wind power generation, 2025 Annual electricity generation from wind is measured in terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. This includes both onshore and offshore wind sources.
Submegawatt-scale (<1,000 kilowatts [kW]) distributed wind turbines could provide up to approximately 3.0 terawatts (TW) of capacity, and with current wind turbine performance levels could produce 4,400
PNNL has produced the annual Distributed Wind Market Report since 2012. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the distributed wind market and can help guide future investments and
For distributed wind, similar to land-based utility-scale wind, each of the potential wind sites characterized in the ATB is associated with 1 of 10 wind speed classes. The following table shows
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