Distributed Wind’s Second Act?

Distributed Wind’s Second Act?

From Energy Changemakers Podcast by Energy Changemakers

March 18, 2026 · 33 min · Season 1 · Episode 42

About this episode

This episode discusses the potential resurgence of distributed wind energy in the context of new market conditions and its role in hybrid energy systems.

Distributed wind has long played third wheel to solar and storage — but new market conditions may be opening the door to a comeback. In this bonus episode, Elisa Wood speaks with analyst Peter Asmus about whether distributed wind can find new life in microgrids, virtual power plants (VPPs), and rural energy systems . They explore wind’s surprising early dominance in microgrids, why it lost ground to solar, and how rural co-ops, farm policy, and complementary generation profiles could bring it back into the mix. While unlikely to compete head-to-head with solar, distributed wind may play a valuable supporting role in hybrid, distributed energy systems .

People in this episode

Host: Elisa Wood

Guest: Peter Asmus

Topics covered

  • distributed wind
  • microgrids
  • virtual power plants
  • rural energy systems
  • solar competition
  • energy policy

Keywords

  • distributed wind
  • solar
  • microgrids
  • virtual power plants
  • rural energy
  • energy systems
  • energy policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: distributed wind, solar, storage, microgrids, virtual power plants, rural energy systems, rural co-ops, farm policy, complementary generation profiles

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