5 Reasons Small Wind Turbines are Worthwhile

In the past 20 years, wind turbines have become a must-have instrument for electricity generation in many regions of the world. Scandinavia, a leader in wind power use, is a perfect example of how to unlock the potential of renewables. While the US satisfies as little as 6.5% of its power demand with wind energy, 47% of electricity in Denmark in 2019 was wind-generated.

Though the positive impact of wind energy is obvious, developers sometimes find it hard to choose between small and big turbines since the distinguishing features seem obscure. Here are five main reasons why small wind turbines are often a better choice for many.

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Hbkfromckd108 and shared under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Same eco-friendly renewable energy

Despite the size, small wind turbines are still less dangerous for the environment than traditional fossil fuels, and are as advantageous as large WTs. What is more, in case of unforeseen breakdown or an unintentional stoppage, small wind turbines are much easier to operate, not to mention maintenance cost.

Easy to start

A wind energy installation must align with local zoning and permitting regulations to address safety, safe altitude, noise level, TV and radio interference, and other issues. In this regard, developing a small wind turbine farm is cheaper and more practical since it takes less or no permissions related to height, visual impact, land impact or radiofrequency limitations.

Affordability

The bigger the turbine, the greater are the expenses. A small wind turbine cost starts from ten thousand dollars, disregarding expenses attached to its installation, while big WT’s price often exceeds a million dollars per turbine. The figures are rough yet the expense gap is evident.

Energy Availability

In case of a main power line outage or breakdown, small energy generation installations become main or reserve power sources. Similarly, small power generation systems were used after disasters in New York and New Jersey in 2006, ice rain in Moscow suburbs in 2010, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, and massive blackout in Venezuela in 2019. In each case consumers were unable to reach electricity from a central power line triggering the importance of local energy production. In this regard, small wind turbine farms become a national security challenge.

Compatibility for greater profit

Unlike most big WTs, small wind turbines can be combined with solar panels and other energy generation systems to form a microgrid, an independent distributed energy generation system with mixed types of energy generation. Microgrids multiply output capacity securing higher profitability while remaining a stable, low-volatile passive source of income.

Consequently, a small wind turbine installation may bring more profit than large WTs as they have more designs and allocation options for greater terrain adaptivity.

This post was supported by TBHAWT

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