NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308
Assessing the Future of
Distributed Wind: Opportunities
for Behind
-the-Meter Projects
Eric Lantz
, Benjamin Sigrin, Michael Gleason,
Robert Preus,
and Ian Baring-Gould
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Technical Report
NREL/TP-6A20-67337
November 2016
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
15013 Denver West Parkway
Golden, CO 80401
303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov
Assessing the Future of
Distributed Wind:
Opportunities for Behind-the-
Meter Projects
Eric Lantz, Benjamin Sigrin, Michael Gleason,
Robert Preus, and Ian Baring-Gould
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Prepared under Task No. WE15.2E30
Technical Report
NREL/TP-6A20-67337
November 2016
NOTICE
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not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof.
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Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
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Cover Photos by Dennis Schroeder: (left to right) NREL 26173, NREL 18302, NREL 19758, NREL 29642, NREL 19795.
NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content.
iii
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at www.nrel.gov/publications.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-
AC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Funding for the
work was provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind
Energy Technologies Office. The authors thank Mike Bergey (Bergey Wind Power), Padma
Kasthurirangan (Niagara Wind and Solar), Tom Wind (Wind Utility Consulting), and Alice
Orrell (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) for providing support and assistance as part of
the project’s Technical Review Group and for reviewing prior versions of this manuscript. We
thank Charles Newcomb (previously of Endurance Wind Power) for supporting this project as
part of the Technical Review Group. We also thank Trudy Forsyth (Wind Advisors Team), Bret
Barker (Barker Advisory, contractor to DOE), Rich Tusing (Allegheny Science and Technology,
contractor to DOE), Patrick Gilman (DOE), Mark Higgins (DOE), Mike Derby (DOE), and Jose
Zayas (DOE) for their strategic input and guidance in the development and execution of this
work. We thank our NREL colleagues Maureen Hand, Tony Jimenez, Maggie Mann, Dave
Mooney, Brian Smith, Gian Porro, and Robin Newmark for reviewing prior versions of this
manuscript. Finally, thanks to Sheri Anstedt (NREL) and Mary Lukkonen (contractor to NREL)
for editing support. Opinions represented in this article are the authors’ own and do not reflect
the view of the U.S. Department of Energy or the U.S. government. Of course, any remaining
errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors.
iv
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at www.nrel.gov/publications.
List of Acronyms
AEO Annual Energy Outlook
C
p
coefficient of performance
DOE U.S. Department of Energy
dWind Distributed Wind Market Demand Model (NREL)
EIA Energy Information Administrations
GW gigawatt
ITC investment tax credit
kW kilowatt
LCOE levelized cost of energy
m meter
MACRS Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System
MW megawatt
NPV net present value
NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NYSERDA New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
OEM original equipment manufacturer
O&M operation and maintenance
PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PTC production tax credit
PV photovoltaic
WACC weighted average cost of capital
