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Springfield Wind Turbine Tops 40% Capacity Factor
June 2, 2005
In Southeast Colorado, Springfield Mayor Jay Schuler
says a wind turbine in his town is among the best performers in the
country. For the ten months it operated in 2004, the turbine
registered an overall capacity factor of 41.7%. In September 2004 it
achieved a capacity factor of 61.7%, which is a remarkably high number
for a wind turbine.
Capacity factor is a utility industry benchmark for
measuring power plant performance and reliability. It measures the
amount of electricity produced in a year (or other time period)
divided by its theoretical maximum, which is the amount it would have
produced if it operated at its rated capacity for the entire year.
Power companies keep detailed and confidential databases of capacity
factors for every power plant in the country, and the wind industry is
no exception.
Conventional power plants achieve capacity factors
of 40% to 80%, according to the American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA). No power plant has 100% reliability, and utilities schedule
down time for all plants. All outages for whatever reason affect the
capacity factor. For example, the only unscheduled outage in 2004 for
the Springfield turbine was due to a local substation disconnecting
offline.
In addition to reliability, capacity factor for wind
turbines also reflects efficient turbine design and the wind energy
resource where it is installed. In his report to AWEA, Suhler claims
that the Springfield location is very windy and that the turbine
generates electricity 90% of the time. The turbine is produced by GE
Wind and rated at 1.5 megawatts.
AWEA is collecting publicly available data on wind
turbine performance. If you know of a turbine that outperforms the one
in Springfield, send the information to:
Kathy_Belyeu@awea.org
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