Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average proportion of time is that (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines produce energy.

Information on the hours of operation of individual wind turbines is not held centrally.

However, information on load factors, which express the average quantity of electricity produced as a percentage of the maximum achievable (based on installed capacity) are published in table 6.5 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, and table 6.1 of Energy Trends; copies of both these publications are available in the House Library and on the gov.uk website.

The March 2014 edition of Energy Trends showed average load factors for the last quarter of 2013 were 36.9% for onshore turbines and 46.1% for offshore turbines. Data for the first quarter of 2014 will be contained in the next edition of Energy Trends, being released on 26 June 2014.