Nowadays, with the increasing share of wind power in electrical energy sector, performance evaluation indices are of great importance. Such indices can lead to optimal utilization of invested capital and effective development of existing wind farms. Despite having some
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Nowadays, with the increasing share of wind power in electrical energy sector, performance evaluation indices are of great importance. Such indices can lead to optimal utilization of invested capital and effective development of existing wind farms. Despite having some of the required characteristics, the capacity factor based on traditional definition has some limitation. This study aims to extend the concept of capacity factor and presents a comprehensive formulation in order to calculate this index using measured and simulated data for one turbine, all turbines connected to a feeder or a busbar, and all turbines of a wind farm. This formulation also provides a framework for calculating the capacity factor in various time periods (annual, seasonal, monthly, etc.) and different time slots (all hours, special hours, hourly, etc.). As a case study, performance of the installed wind turbines in Manjil wind farm is investigated over an operation period using both measured and simulated data. Performance evaluation of the farm is also carried out with a newer variable speed type. Moreover, capacity factors of the feeders, busbars, and the entire farm are calculated using the turbines simulated data as well as measured data of the feeders over an operation period, and various results of exploring the obtained capacity factors are presented. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of newly presented method for the performance evaluation of wind turbines and wind farms based on extended concept of capacity factor.
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