I wrote:
> In 2012, total installed nameplate capacity was 60 GW. With a capacity > factor of 30% that's ~18 GW. It produced 3% of U.S. electricity. > Ah ha. It is more than 3% now. That was with 2011 end-of-year capacity. See: http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/pdfs/2012_annual_wind_market_report.pdf Quote: "A number of countries are beginning to achieve high levels of wind energy penetration: end-of-2012 installed wind power is estimated to supply the equivalent of nearly 30% of Denmarkâs electricity demand, compared to approximately 18% for Portugal and Spain, 16% for Ireland, and 10% for Germany. In the United States, the cumulative wind power capacity installed at the end of 2012 is estimated, in an average year, to equate to roughly 4.4% of electricity demand. So back to my back-of-the-envelope comparison with nukes: * Nukes produced 19% of electricity compared to 4.4% from wind, ~4.3 times more. * Nukes have about 5.5 more actual capacity than wind (not nameplate). Those numbers are in pretty good agreement. - Jed
