Read more in the Guided Tour section on wind energy in the electrical grid 16. Wind Energy is a Scalable Technology Wind energy can be used in all sorts of applications - from small battery chargers in lighthouses or remote dwellings to industrial scale turbines of 1.5 megawatts capable of supplying the equivalent of the electricity consumption of one thousand families. Other interesting and highly economic applications include wind energy used in combination with diesel powered backup generators in several small, isolated electrical grids throughout the world. Desalination plants in island communities in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea is another recent application. Although wind turbine design has become a high tech industry, wind turbines can easily be installed in developing countries, and serviced and maintained locally.
Turbine manufacturers provide training courses for personnel.
Installation of wind turbines provides jobs in the local community, and manufacturers will often manufacture heavy parts of the turbine, e.g. towers, locally once the installation rate reaches a certain level. Wind turbines require no subsequent expensive provision of fuel, a major stumbling block for several other electricity generating technologies in developing areas. India has become one of the large wind energy nations of the world with substantial local manufacturing. P. R. of China is presently taking the lead in East Asia. The wind industry is becoming more multinational, as the industry matures and more manufacturing is established in new markets.