4 ms·

Most renewable energy sources are variable, meaning they have a capacity/load factor that is less than 100% - you would never mention the load factor of a natur

Most renewable energy sources are variable, meaning they have a capacity/load factor that is less than 100% - you would never mention the load factor of a natural gas power plant because it's essentially a turnkey solution that doesn't fluctuate. Renewable energy is different, and it's good that this issue is mentioned in articles so that it's acknowledged as being a challenge. I don't think it's ambiguous in any way

ChuckMcM 9y ago
> ... you would never mention the load factor of a natural gas power plant because it's essentially a turnkey solution that doesn't fluctuate. As I understood the term the capacity factor is the percentage of time the plant is generating power. All plants have periods of maintenance and other "down times" which means they don't achieve 100% capacity. I would expect to use that number like this: Given a 30MW plant with a 50% capacity factor measured for the year, I would consider it to provide 30MW x 180 x 24 or 129,600 MWh of generating capacity. Two plants with a 50% capacity factor would give you coverage at their rated power all year only if they never overlapped in their down time. So if I was working the issue operationally I'd put in three plants to insure I had 100% coverage of 30MW all year long.
- cbcoutinho 9y ago
  Maintenance does incur planned downtime on a power plant, but those things can be planned for when there isn't much energy usage throughout the year. In colder climates that's usually in the spring/summer. If a plant goes out for two weeks every year for maintenance, that's not a big problem. A wind farm on the other hand has a much lower load factor (UK offshore is around 30% [0]), and that load capacity isn't planned at all. You might get 30% on average per year, but that daily capacity fluctuates throughout the year - that's what I mean about fluctuating capacity. [0] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-o...

ChuckMcM 9y ago

> ... you would never mention the load factor of a natural gas power plant because it's essentially a turnkey solution that doesn't fluctuate. As I understood the term the capacity factor is the percentage of time the plant is generating power. All plants have periods of maintenance and other "down times" which means they don't achieve 100% capacity. I would expect to use that number like this: Given a 30MW plant with a 50% capacity factor measured for the year, I would consider it to provide 30MW x 180 x 24 or 129,600 MWh of generating capacity. Two plants with a 50% capacity factor would give you coverage at their rated power all year only if they never overlapped in their down time. So if I was working the issue operationally I'd put in three plants to insure I had 100% coverage of 30MW all year long.

cbcoutinho 9y ago
Maintenance does incur planned downtime on a power plant, but those things can be planned for when there isn't much energy usage throughout the year. In colder climates that's usually in the spring/summer. If a plant goes out for two weeks every year for maintenance, that's not a big problem. A wind farm on the other hand has a much lower load factor (UK offshore is around 30% [0]), and that load capacity isn't planned at all. You might get 30% on average per year, but that daily capacity fluctuates throughout the year - that's what I mean about fluctuating capacity. [0] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-o...