The Thai government's renewable energy plan to help increase energy independence and reduce emissions
includes a component from wind. Due to Thailand's wind regime, small wind turbines that can operate in low
wind speeds are needed to meet this goal. This study assesses the environmental implications and economic
feasibility of small wind turbines. Using a functional unit of producing 50 kWh per month for 20 years, a Life
Cycle Assessment was conducted comparing the global warming potential (GWP100), embodied energy, energy
payback period (EPP) and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of four small wind turbines (≤20 kW), a diesel
generator, and the Thai grid. The turbines had a lower overall GWP100 compared to the diesel generator and
Thai grid in areas with reasonable wind resources; the same was true for embodied energy when compared to
the diesel generator. Interestingly, in most available wind speed categories in Thailand the LCOE for wind
turbines was lower than for the diesel generator. However, neither could compare to the selling price of the
Thai grid, except in the areas with the highest average wind speeds (7.0–9.4 m/s). Because of the increased
cost relative to the Thai grid, implementation of wind turbines in Thailand was not found to be economically
feasible without government incentive