High capacity factor turbines
From harvesting to mining
Over the last 40 years, wind energy has become one of the most competitive power sources in the world. With growing demand and good sites harder to find, the days of harvesting easy pickings are behind us, and the time has come for us to actively mine available wind to extract the maximum value per site.
This is where an increase in a turbine’s capacity factor plays an important role. By enabling solutions that are capable of delivering a more stable power output at lower wind speeds, we help increase our customers’ business case certainty within as well as beyond LCoE considerations.
Why high capacity factor?
Mining more wind at lower wind speeds is made possible by enlarging a wind turbine’s rotor size to extract more wind energy for any given site. This is particularly relevant for megawatt-constrained projects, where project economics are enhanced by delivering the maximum MWh per MW of maximum possible power output.
Because capacity factor is the average power generated, divided by the rated peak power – or the measure of how many MWh accessed per MW of maximum possible power output, then a high capacity factor is a vital indicator for specifying a solution that can create a financially viable business case.
Building on our strength
At Vestas, we work hard to ensure that we develop optimised solutions to improve our customers’ business case and project investments. Among others, we continue to enhance the capacity factor of our turbines by building on our well-proven wind turbine technologies and capitalising on the established global supply chain.
Each of the evolutionary steps takes us further towards increasing energy production at wind park level and optimising predictability in wind power generation, ultimately contributing to accelerated energy transition towards a carbon-free future.
Read more about high capacity factor turbines
Would you like to learn more?
A successful energy transition will rely on technology providers like Vestas to capture enough value to keep reinvesting in innovation. The new generation of the 4 MW platform poses important possibilities in this journey towards sustainable profitability.
Anders Nielsen
EVP & Group CTO