Capacity Factor - Typical Capacity Factors

Typical Capacity Factors

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2007 the capacity factors were as follows:

Combined Cycle Natural Gas Plant–11.4% Oil–13.4% Hydroelectric–36.3% Renewables (Wind/Solar/Biomass)–40% Coal–73.6% Nuclear–91.8%

However they do tend to vary.

  • Wind farms 20-40%.
  • Photovoltaic solar in Massachusetts 12-15%.
  • Photovoltaic solar in Arizona 19%.
  • CSP solar in California 33%.
  • Hydroelectricity, worldwide average 44%, range of 10% - 99% depending on design (small plant in big river will always have enough water to operate and vice versa), water availability (with or without regulation via storage dam, where a storage dam is designed to store at least enough water to operate the plant at full capacity for around half a year to allow full regulation of the annual flow of the river).
  • Nuclear energy 70% (1971-2009 average of USA's plants).
  • Nuclear energy 91.2% (2010 average of USA's plants).

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