Wind turbine generators gain acceptance in distributed generation applications

Modern wind turbine generators, which in the United States have traditionally been utilized in large wind farms, are now being sited at individual facilities in a number of distributed generation applications. In this presentation, the author will describe the factors that have made wind power more attractive in such applications. Wind power systems ranging from 10 kW to 1 MW are described with a brief description of the types of facilities and loads being served. Wind turbine installation and interconnection issues are discussed. Operating experience with the wind plants, including their performance in extreme weather conditions, is presented as well as a discussion of the economics of wind power plants in various types of distributed generation applications.