Question by Young Genuis: How much Wind Turbines Does it take to Make the Energy in a Power Plant?
How much Wind Turbines Does it take to Make the Energy in a Power Plant?
Best answer:
Answer by MTRstudent
Your question is confusing!
Do you mean: how many wind turbines does it take to produce the same power output as a power station?
The answer depends on a lot of things. Modern power stations vary in size. A ‘typical’ one is somewhere between 1000MW and 1600MW. (but you can get bigger ones – Drax is over 4000MW)
Wind turbines tend to be between 1.5MW and 3.6MW each, but 5MW models are being released this year and 7.5MW and 10MW ones are being researched.
So at maximum output, a 1600MW coal power station would require about 640 2.5MW turbines to match it. Or 320 of the new 5MW turbines.
The total amount of energy produced is different though; wind turbines on average only produce ~30% of their total possible output (ie their ‘capacity factor’ is about 30%). Nuclear power stations, because of their low marginal cost, tend to have a ‘capacity factor’ of 90% or so. Other power stations like coal and gas may be anywhere from 40-90%, but the US average is 55%:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/plugs/plepa00a.html
So a 1600MW coal power station will average 880MW output. You’d need almost 1200 2.5MW turbines to get the same average power output; or 600 new 5MW models.
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