Capacity factor calculator

How much of its maximum possible output did a plant deliver over a period? Enter its nameplate capacity, the energy it produced and the period. Or start from a capacity factor to get the expected energy.

Calculator

What do you want to find?

Rated (maximum) power output, a power unit.

Net or gross generation over the period, an energy unit. Use the same basis as the capacity.

Period

8,760 h, or 8,784 h in a leap year.

Result

Enter the values and choose Calculate.

The formula

The capacity factor compares the energy a plant actually produced with the energy it would have produced running at full rated power for the whole period.

CF=EP×t×100 %E=CF100 %×P×t\mathrm{CF} = \frac{E}{P \times t} \times 100\,\% \qquad E = \frac{\mathrm{CF}}{100\,\%} \times P \times tCF=EP×t×100 %E=CF100 %×P×t\begin{gathered}\mathrm{CF} = \frac{E}{P \times t} \times 100\,\%\\[6pt] E = \frac{\mathrm{CF}}{100\,\%} \times P \times t\end{gathered}

Here EE is energy produced (for example MWh), PP is nameplate capacity (MW) and tt is the period in hours. Units must match: MW × h gives MWh. A year has 8,760 h, or 8,784 h in a leap year.

A capacity factor above 100 % is not physically possible for a single plant over a period. It usually means a unit mix-up (for example kW against MWh), the wrong period, or capacity that changed during the period.

For the background, read the units primer on capacity, generation and the capacity factor. To convert units, use the unit converter.