What is the value of exports markets for wind?
Exports markets are growing rapidly. Overseas markets account for about half of the business of U.S. manufacturers of small wind turbines and wind energy developers. Small wind turbine markets are diverse and include many applications, both on-grid (connected to a utility system) and off-grid (stand-alone). The potential economic benefits from wind are enormous. At a time when U.S. manufacturing employment is generally on the decline, the production of wind equipment is one of the few potentially large sources of new manufacturing jobs on the horizon. AWEA estimates that wind installations worldwide will total more than 100,000 megawatts over the next decade, or more than $100 billion worth of business. If the U.S. wind industry could capture a 25% share of the global wind market through the year 2015, many thousands of new jobs would be created.
