Published Papers

Introduction

We all know that the wind is intermittent. As a rough measure, wind turbines can only operate when
wind speeds are between 4 metres per second and 24 metres per second. There is a further technical limit,
which need not concern us here, Betz's Law - the maximum theoretical efficiency of a wind turbine is
the ratio of the maximum power obtained from the wind to the total power available from the wind. This
ratio is 0.593, thus under Betz's Law wind turbines can never be more than 59.3% efficient.
Here, however, we focus on 'capacity factor' (sometimes termed 'load factor'). This is the ratio of the
actual output of a wind energy development (an array of wind turbines at a particular location, or locations
if a country is under consideration as is the case in this paper) to the installed capacity. We will be
considering actual wind energy performance in the UK, sub-divided for England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland against claims that in general have been grossly exaggerated. The implications of the
actual performance against claims will finally be considered.

Research Topics: Energy Capacity Energy Efficiency