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Renewable Energy: the question of capacity | Principia Scientific Intl.
Introduction This article is concerned with the two main forms of weather dependent Renewable Energy, Wind Power (Onshore and Offshore) and Photovoltaic solar power. In the UK this amounts to ~75% of all installed Renewable Energy. The other renewable energy inputs are traditional Hydro power ~8% and the remainder are other sources such as biomass, waste and landfill gas amounting to ~17%. The capacity percentage of any power generating installation is calculated as the actual electrical output achieved divided by the nominal Nameplate output. This article uses both stated estimates from the USA EIA and real measures of capacity in Europe as of 2014. It thus provides reasonably correct comparisons of the efficacy of Renewable installations.