4/7/2014 Annual Energy Output from a Wind Turbine

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Annual Energy Output from a Wind Turbine
We are now ready t o
calculat e t he
relat ionship bet ween
average wind speeds
and annual energy
out put from a wind
t urbine. To draw t he
graph t o t he right , we
have used t he power
calculat or on t he
previous page, and t he
power curve from t he
default example 600
kW wind t urbine. We
have used a st andard
at mosphere wit h an air densit y of 1.225 kg/m
3
.
For each of t he Weibull paramet ers 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 we have calculat ed t he
annual energy out put for different average wind speeds at t urbine hub height .
As you can see, out put may vary up t o 50 per cent depending on t he shape
paramet er at a low average wind speed of 4.5 m/s, while it may vary some 30
per cent at a very high average wind speed of 10 m/s at hub height .
Output varies almost with the cube of the wind speed
Now, let us look at t he red curve wit h k=2, which is t he curve normally shown
by manufact urers:
Wit h an average wind speed of 4.5 m/s at hub height t he machine will
generat e about 0.5 GWh per year, i.e. 500,000 kWh per year. Wit h an average
wind speed of 9 met res per second it will generat e 2.4 GWh/year = 2,400,000
kWh per year. Thus, doubling t he average wind speed has increased energy
out put 4.8 t imes.
If we had compared 5 and 10 met res per second inst ead, we would have
obt ained almost exact ly 4 t imes as much energy out put .
The reason why we do not obt ain exact ly t he same result s in t he t wo cases, is
t hat t he efficiency of t he wind t urbine varies wit h t he wind speeds, as described
by t he power curve. Not e, t hat t he uncert aint y t hat applies t o t he power curve
also applies t o t he result above.
You may refine your calculat ions by account ing for t he fact t hat e.g. in
t emperat e climat es t he wind t ends t o be st ronger in wint er t han in summer, and
st ronger during t he dayt ime t han at night .
The Capacity Factor
Anot her way of st at ing t he annual energy out put from a wind t urbine is t o look
at t he capacit y fact or for t he t urbine in it s part icular locat ion. By capacit y
fact or we mean it s act ual annual energy out put divided by t he t heoret ical
maximum out put , if t he machine were running at it s rat ed (maximum) power
during all of t he 8766 hours of t he year.
Example: If a 600 kW t urbine produces 1.5 million kWh in a year, it s
capacit y fact or is = 1500000 : ( 365.25 * 24 * 600 ) = 1500000 : 5259600 =
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4/7/2014 Annual Energy Output from a Wind Turbine
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0.285 = 28.5 per cent .
Capacit y fact ors may t heoret ically vary from 0 t o 100 per cent , but in
pract ice t hey will usually range from 20 t o 70 per cent , and most ly be around
25-30 per cent .
The Capacity Factor Paradox
Alt hough one would generally prefer t o have a large capacit y fact or, it may not
always be an economic advant age. This is oft en confusing t o people used t o
convent ional or nuclear t echnology.
In a very windy locat ion, for inst ance, it may be an advant age t o use a larger
generat or wit h t he same rot or diamet er (or a smaller rot or diamet er for a given
generat or size). This would t end t o lower t he capacit y fact or (using less of t he
capacit y of a relat ively larger generat or), but it may mean a subst ant ially larger
annual product ion, as you can verify using t he Power calculat or on t his web sit e.
Whet her it is wort hwhile t o go for a lower capacit y fact or wit h a relat ively
larger generat or, depends bot h on wind condit ions, and on t he price of t he
different t urbine models of course.
Anot her way of looking at t he capacit y fact or paradox is t o say, t hat t o a
cert ain ext ent you may have a choice bet ween a relat ively st able power out put
(close t o t he design limit of t he generat or) wit h a high capacit y fact or - or a
high energy out put (which will fluct uat e) wit h a low capacit y fact or.
Copyright 1997-2003 Danish Wind Industry Association
Updated 19 September 2003
http://www.windpower.org/en/tour/wres/annu.htm
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