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Capacity factor: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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, or at an average rate of 2 MW × 0.25 = 0.5 MW. | ||
The turbine, or any group of turbines, generates at or above its average rate (i.e., its capacity factor) 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 turbine|wind turbines]] do generate power, they do so at highly variable rates depending primarily on the wind speed.<ref>https://wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=43</ref> | The turbine, or any group of turbines, generates at or above its average rate (i.e., its capacity factor), however, 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 turbine|wind turbines]] do generate power, they do so at highly variable rates depending primarily on the wind speed.<ref>https://wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=43</ref> | ||
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