Wind Energy Market Sectors
U.S. power plants generate electricity for homes, factories, and businesses from a variety of market sectors, including coal, hydropower, natural gas, nuclear, petroleum, and (non-hydro) renewable resources such as wind and solar energy. This power generation mix varies significantly across the country depending on available resources, market prices, public policy, and government or business targets.
Based on EIA data from 2022
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Open Data API, Electricity Net Generation.
In 2021, renewable energy accounted for 12% of U.S. electricity generation and is currently the country's largest source of renewable energy. Wind power generation in the United States has greatly increased over the years, with more than 138 gigawatts of wind-generating capacity installed.
From large, land-based utility-scale wind power facilities to small and community distributed wind projects, individuals, businesses, schools, communities, and utilities are using wind energy. Learn more about the three wind market sectors: two kinds of utility-scale projects and distributed wind projects.
Utility-Scale Wind Market Sector
The U.S. Department of Energy defines utility-scale wind projects as land-based and offshore projects larger than 1 megawatt (MW). Energy from these projects is transmitted to many users through a transmission system and the U.S. electric grid, similar to that of any other commercial power plant.
Utility-scale wind turbines are highly efficient, state-of-the-art wind turbines that operate with exceptionally high availability rates and generate cost-competitive electricity at power plant scales. In some regions of the country, wind power prices are competitive with wholesale power prices and other new sources of generation.
Distributed Wind Market Sector
Distributed wind energy systems are on-site, and often off-grid wind turbines that typically produce less than 1 kilowatt (kW) of energy or could be as large as a small array of multi-megawatt wind turbines. A distributed wind project can provide power to local needs, such as homes, ranches, farms, businesses, industrial parks, schools, and communities.
| Residential-Scale Onsite Energy Use | Small Commercial-Scale Onsite Energy Use | Commercial Onsite Energy Use | Large Commercial or Industrial Energy Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Output | 10 kW | 10â50 kW | 50â250 kW | 500 kWâ1.5 MW |
| Description | Produces about as much energy as a home requires. Because these turbines are generally installed on shorter towers, a site evaluation is needed to ensure the project will perform as designed. | Produces more power than the average house consumes but can be well suited for small businesses; farms; ranches; facilities such as schools, office buildings, or part of a campus; or a public load such as a hospital. | Produces commercial quantities of power and can be well matched with campuses, larger facilities, communities, and larger municipal public loads. | At the top end of the midsize machines and is well suited for communities and very large onsite industrial loads and can even form the basis of small wind farms. They are typically indistinguishable from utility-scale turbines on a technology basis. |
How much wind power is installed in the United States?
Wind energy delivers substantial economic benefits to rural communities across the country.