The overall capacity factor for wind is 28%, close to your 30% number.
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I was being generous but from what I’ve seen, your 28% number is likely generous too. This obviously is a variable that changes from one location to another and often gets overinflated by the IWT operators when they are trying to sell a project... I saw some data for a location recently where the capacity factor was way under expectations. If I recall correctly, it was closer to 20%.
Regarding what you called a ‘quibble’, you are correct. The original article that caught my eye was one posted in Power Engineering where they were discussing a project done at Duke Energy. https://www.power-eng.com/gas/simple-cycle-gas-plant-in-north-carolina-achieves-guinness-world-records-title/?utm_source=power_engineering_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-08-30
In the article, it says this....
- Duke Energy’s Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station is now certified with the Guinness World Records title for the “most powerful simple-cycle gas power plant.”
- The turbine has fast-responding capabilities, with a ramp up and down rate of about 85 MW per minute. This is an important quality when integrating with renewables.
One other thing related to all this particularly since this is all sold as being ‘good for the environment’.... Gas turbines typically produce more CO in a start than they do in 10 hours of operation. Thus when they are not needed due to a time of decent wind/solar production is that the operators are loath to completely shut them down for this reason.... and this of course leads to more waste.
Interesting stat about CO emissions during a start vs continuous operation. I didn’t know that, but it makes sense.
My son and I drove from the San Fran Bay Area to North Idaho last March and we passed through the huge wind farm along the Columbia River. There are thousands of wind turbines there and not a single one was turning. This is close to Goldendale, WA which has some of the best wind characteristics in the entire country. My dad led the wind program at General Electric in the early 1980s and they did a lot of wind surveys. Goldendale, the San Gorgonzola Pass in CA, and a site in Hawaii came out tops. That’s where they installed the prototype Mod 1 and Mod 2 machines. So even the #1 wind site has extended times when not a single kW is being generated.
This whole “green” thing is sheer lunacy, but the rubes who had one general science course in tenth grade fall for the “earth is on fire” lie and the concomitant lie that “renewable energy will keep the earth from burning up.”