Market Assessment Working Group

Market Assessments: What, and Why?

A market assessment is a study designed to evaluate the potential for a given product or service. By considering the needs of the consumer and the requirements of the market, firm strategies for deployment can be developed and put into action, maximising the potential benefits. Simply put, a market assessment matches a technology with the people who need it, in such a way that it can be guaranteed to work for them.

In Wind Empowerment, the Market Assessment Working Group (MAWG) is responsible for the very first studies into a particular location before installation projects are carried out.
We aim to answer the questions of:

  • Is there sufficient wind resource?
  • Is a wind generation system really needed?
  • Is wind the most cost effective energy solution?
  • Will the project be sustainable?

Rarely is the answer as simple as “yes” or “no”, and so the knowledge gained from the market assessment is then passed on to a Delivery Models, where strategies to implement and finance the project are developed. Once a strategy is in place, the project can be carried out with confidence of its success.

Our Work

The MAWG has worked on a number of projects, some of which can be read about on the working group blog. The group has worked on individual studies assessing the potential for small wind in Ethiopia, Malawi and Nicaragua, taking physical, technological and socio-economic factors into account.

Our latest project has been a Global Market Assessment, aimed at pinpointing which countries in the world are most favourable for the deployment of small wind in an energy for development context. The project was funded by our friends at Wisions, and a detailed report can be found here. This global assessment is still ongoing as part of the PhD research project of one of the working group members.

Click here to contact the working group coordinator.

If you want to engage with our group, feel free to participate in our forum.
Please note: we have separate discussion forums for general discussion, for each of our working groups and for our executive board (members only).

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