The Effect of Wind Turbines’ Load Factor on the Overall Cost of Electricity

Cardenas, Bruno; Garvey, Seamus; Baniamerian, Zahra; Mehdipour, Ramin

Abstract

The load factor of wind turbines has a strong effect on the wider electricity system. As the rated wind speed of turbines reduces, the load factor increases. This allows wind farms to generate constant power for longer periods of time, which in turn improves the match between the profiles of electricity demand and renewable generation and reduces the need for energy storage. The behaviour of the total cost of electricity is driven largely by the levelized cost of wind power, which has a minimum at a rated speed of 12 m/s. Faster rated speeds (>12 m/s) lead to higher electricity costs due to the lower load factors of the turbines. At slower rated speeds (<12 m/s) the higher capital cost of the turbines overshadows the improved load factors, leading to increased electricity costs.

Citation

Cardenas, B., Garvey, S., Baniamerian, Z., & Mehdipour, R. (2024, July). The Effect of Wind Turbines’ Load Factor on the Overall Cost of Electricity. Presented at 8th Offshore Energy and Storage Symposium (OSES 2024), New Bedford, USA

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 8th Offshore Energy and Storage Symposium (OSES 2024)
• Start Date: Jul 10, 2024
• End Date: Jul 12, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Nov 28, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 18, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 14, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 14, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
• Print ISSN: 0976-7673
• Electronic ISSN: 0976-7681
• Publisher: Bioinfo Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2929
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 012006
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2929/1/012006
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/48986867
• Publisher URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2929/1/012006/meta