Nameplate capacity and capacity factors for different electrical generation technologies. The average power supplied over a year is the nameplate capacity times the capacity factor.
generation_capacity()a tibble of values for generation sources
Energy source: Coal, Nuclear, Gas, Solar Thermal, Solar Photovoltaic, Onshore Wind, or Offshore Wind
Text description of the power source
Maximum sustained power output, in megawatts
Capacity factor: the fraction of the nameplate capacity that the plant can provide, averaged over a typical year
Data for fossil fuels comes from EIA
Environmental Protection Agency (2018) "Electric Power Monthly," (October, 2018) https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/archive/october2018.pdf, Table 6.7.A.
Pielke, Jr., Roger A., The Climate Fix (Basic Books, 2010).
gc <- generation_capacity()
gc
#> # A tibble: 7 × 4
#> fuel description nameplate_capacity capacity_factor
#> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl>
#> 1 Coal Large coal-fired power … 1000 0.53
#> 2 Nuclear Large nuclear power pla… 1000 0.75
#> 3 Natural Gas Gas-fired power plant 500 0.56
#> 4 Photovoltaic Solar Concentrated solar-ther… 100 0.25
#> 5 Solar Thermal Photovoltaic solar farm 100 0.25
#> 6 Onshore Wind Onshore Wind turbine 6 0.42
#> 7 Offshore Wind Offshore Wind turbine 13 0.5