Written question asked by Lord Vinson (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Marland (Conservative) on Tuesday, 16 November 2010.

Energy: Wind Turbines

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the load factor for fully commissioned offshore wind turbines for the past 12 months.

Answer: Information on load factors for both on and offshore wind farms are published in table 7.4 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics. The 2010 edition, published in July 2010 gives the load factors for the calendar years 2005 to 2009. A copy of this publication is available in the Libraries of the House and on the Department of Energy and Climate Change website at http://www.decc. gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/publications/dukes/dukes.aspx. Load factors are normally calculated by examining the installed capacity at the beginning and the end of each year, and comparing the average of these two figures with the amount of electricity generated by them. For 2009 this gives an offshore load factor of 26.0 per cent. These figures can be influenced by when new capacity come on stream, particularly if this is early or late in the year. The load factor for the offshore turbines that were in operation throughout the calendar year 2009 has been calculated as 33.7 per cent. Recent analysis undertaken by the Public Research Centre, and published in the Offshore Valuation Report, highlights that the offshore wind resource in UK Waters is ““widely reported to be the best in Europe””.

Secondary information