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Capacity factor: Difference between revisions
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For nondispatchable sources – i.e., ones generate electricity according to wind speed or sunlight rather than actual demand on the grid – capacity factor is determined by their fuel sources and the [[efficiency]] with which they are converted to electrical power. | For nondispatchable sources – i.e., ones generate electricity according to wind speed or sunlight rather than actual demand on the grid – capacity factor is determined by their fuel sources and the [[efficiency]] with which they are converted to electrical power. | ||
Wind turbines generate electricity at an annual average rate of 25%–35% of their capacity.<ref>https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia923/</ref> | Wind turbines generate electricity at an annual average rate of 25%–35% of their capacity.<ref>https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia923/</ref> | ||
That means, for example, a 2-MW turbine may produce an annual total energy of 2 MW × 365 days × 24 hours × 0.25 = 4,380 MWh. | |||
The turbine, or any group of turbines, generates at or above their average rate only 40% of the time.<ref>https://wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=44</ref><ref>https://wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=42</ref> When wind turbines do generate power, they do so at highly variable rates depending primarily on the wind speed. | |||
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