How many wind turbines does it take to equal a nuclear reactor?

Answer 1

Nuclear reactors and wind turbines both vary in size and the amount of power they can generate, so an exact answer is really not possible.

But, a nuclear reactor can typically generate in the neighborhood of 1100 Megawatts of power, and as of 2011, a typical wind turbine installed on a large wind farm can generate in the neighborhood of 2 Megawatts of power.

So dividing 1100 by 2, you get 550. But this isn't the answer you want because wind turbines don't generate at their full capacity most of the time (while nuclear reactors do.) It would take 550 wind turbines to equal one nuclear reactor if they both operated at their maximum capacity all the time, which is not the case.

To correct for this, you need adjust by what's called the capacity factor. For nuclear reactors this is around 90%. That means over the long run, they generate electricity at 90% of their maximum. The capacity factor for large wind turbines is much lower, 30-35%. So 90%/30% is 3, and we need to multiply the 550 number by 3 to get the real equivalent.

550 X 3 = 1650.

So a reasonable number to quote for the number of turbines that equal one nuclear reactor is 1650.