Wind turbine capacity factors rose 12% since 1993
The average capacity factors of onshore wind turbines grew from 25% in 1993 to 37% this year as a result of incremental design improvements, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Median capacity has also risen from 2 MW to 2.4 MW during the past seven years, as a result of the increasing size of the turbines, BNEF said.
This article first appeared on the BNEF mobile app and the Bloomberg Terminal.

Improving wind turbine performance delivers cheaper power

Average capacity factors now around 37%, up from 25% in 1993

Improving onshore wind capacity factors

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

The cost of energy from onshore wind has been tumbling in recent years, in large part due to ever-improving wind turbine designs. Average capacity factors have increased from 25% in 1993 to 37% in 2017. Turbines are getting bigger too, with median capacity increasing from 2MW in 2010 to 2.4MW today. The chart shows this inexorable march, with each dot representing a wind project. Dot size indicates generating capacity and its position on the y-axis its capacity factor. Results were produced from over 2,000 runs of the BNEF Wind Capacity Factor Tool, recently re-published with 87 new turbine specifications.

Clients can access the full report and tool here.

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