Wind Turbine Feed In Tariff Calculator
Estimate annual generation, export revenue, self consumption savings, net annual benefit, and simple payback for a wind turbine under a feed in tariff or export payment arrangement. Adjust turbine size, wind performance, tariff rate, and on site usage to model a realistic project scenario.
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Enter your assumptions and click Calculate to see annual energy output, tariff revenue, bill savings, net annual value, and simple payback.
Energy and revenue profile
Expert Guide to Using a Wind Turbine Feed In Tariff Calculator
A wind turbine feed in tariff calculator is designed to answer a very practical financial question: how much money can a wind project earn from exported electricity and on site energy savings? Whether you are evaluating a farm turbine, a commercial behind the meter installation, or a community energy project, this kind of calculator helps translate wind resource assumptions into annual cash flow estimates. The quality of your result depends on the quality of your inputs, so it is worth understanding what each field means and how feed in tariff style programs actually work.
At a basic level, the calculator starts with turbine capacity in kilowatts and multiplies it by the number of hours in a year, 8,760. It then adjusts that maximum possible generation using a capacity factor. Capacity factor is one of the most important inputs because wind turbines do not produce full output all the time. Their actual output varies with wind speed, turbine availability, turbulence, wake effects, cut in and cut out behavior, and local maintenance conditions. A turbine with a 100 kW nameplate rating and a 32 percent capacity factor will produce far less than 100 kW continuously, but it can still deliver an attractive long term energy yield if the site is strong and the commercial terms are favorable.
What a feed in tariff means for a wind project
A feed in tariff is a payment structure under which electricity generated by a renewable system is purchased at a pre defined rate, often under a contract. Depending on the jurisdiction, a tariff may apply to all generation, called a gross generation tariff, or only to electricity exported to the grid, which behaves more like an export payment. This distinction matters because a project that consumes part of its own output on site will have a different revenue profile under each arrangement.
- Gross generation tariff: every kWh generated by the turbine earns the tariff rate, whether used on site or exported.
- Export only tariff: only the kWh sent to the grid earn tariff revenue, while self consumed kWh mainly create bill savings.
- Hybrid value stack: many modern projects combine export revenue, avoided retail purchases, possible renewable credits, and tax or grant incentives.
The calculator above lets you switch between export only and gross generation assumptions so you can compare the economics under different policy frameworks. This is useful because many older feed in tariff systems paid a guaranteed rate on all production, while newer frameworks often resemble net billing or export remuneration instead.
The key variables that drive the result
Several inputs have an outsized effect on your answer. The first is capacity factor, because it directly controls annual energy production. The second is the tariff rate, because even a small difference in cents per kWh can materially change annual revenue over a multi year contract. The third is self consumption. If your site can use a large share of output at times when the turbine is producing, then the retail electricity offset can become just as valuable as the export tariff. In higher retail price environments, avoided purchases may be worth more than the tariff itself.
- Turbine size: larger turbines can generate more annual energy, but cost, planning, and interconnection complexity also increase.
- Capacity factor: a site specific estimate from a wind study or mast data set is more reliable than a rough regional average.
- Tariff rate: fixed contract prices improve revenue certainty, while variable export rates increase merchant risk.
- Self consumption: high daytime loads or farm equipment loads can improve total project value.
- Operations and maintenance: underestimating annual servicing can make a project look better on paper than it will be in practice.
- Installed cost: project economics can change dramatically with tower foundation costs, crane logistics, and grid connection upgrades.
Important rule of thumb: if you are unsure about your site, test three scenarios rather than one. Use a conservative, expected, and optimistic capacity factor. This gives you a better sense of downside risk and the degree to which tariff pricing must compensate for lower wind performance.
Real world reference statistics for wind economics
Using benchmark data helps keep assumptions realistic. U.S. Energy Information Administration and Department of Energy datasets show how large the wind sector has become and how meaningful wind generation is within the wider power mix. These figures are not direct feed in tariff prices, but they provide useful context for scale, output, and value expectations.
| Reference statistic | Value | Why it matters for calculator users |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. utility scale wind net generation in 2023 | About 425 billion kWh | Shows that wind is a mature generation source with meaningful annual output at national scale. |
| Wind share of U.S. utility scale electricity in 2023 | About 10.2% | Confirms that wind is not marginal technology. Tariff and export arrangements should be assessed as part of mainstream power economics. |
| Hours in one year used in production modeling | 8,760 hours | This is the basis for turning turbine size and capacity factor into annual kWh generation. |
| Example annual production of a 100 kW turbine at 32% capacity factor | 280,320 kWh | Demonstrates how a moderate size machine can create export and self use value streams. |
To illustrate why small assumption changes matter, consider the same 100 kW turbine under different capacity factors. Because annual generation is directly proportional to capacity factor, revenue moves almost linearly. However, project risk does not. Lower output can quickly stretch payback beyond the financing comfort zone if fixed operating costs remain the same.
| 100 kW turbine scenario | Capacity factor | Annual generation | Tariff revenue at $0.08 per kWh on all generation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative site | 20% | 175,200 kWh | $14,016 |
| Solid wind resource | 30% | 262,800 kWh | $21,024 |
| Strong site | 40% | 350,400 kWh | $28,032 |
How to choose a realistic capacity factor
Capacity factor should never be a guess if you are making a real investment decision. It should come from a site assessment based on local wind speeds, turbine power curve data, hub height, roughness, obstacles, wake effects, and expected availability. While utility scale wind projects in the best areas can perform very strongly, distributed or small wind systems may see lower values if they are located in turbulent sites, lower tower heights, or constrained rural settings.
If you do not yet have a professional yield assessment, start with a range and stress test the model. For example, if your consultant indicates likely performance between 24 percent and 32 percent, run both. This is far better than anchoring on a single optimistic figure. Lenders and sophisticated investors generally focus on downside cases because debt service and operating costs continue even if the wind is weaker than forecast.
Understanding export revenue versus self consumption savings
One of the most overlooked parts of a wind turbine feed in tariff calculator is the interaction between export revenue and avoided purchases. If your site can use a meaningful share of generated electricity behind the meter, those self consumed units may have a value equal to the retail electricity rate. In some markets, that avoided cost can exceed the export payment. For a farm, workshop, or industrial facility with daytime or seasonal loads that align well with wind production, on site usage can materially improve the business case.
- If your tariff pays only on exports, increasing self consumption can reduce export revenue but increase bill savings.
- If your tariff pays on all generation, self consumption may become an additional layer of value on top of the tariff, depending on the policy structure.
- If retail electricity prices rise over time, self consumption savings can become more valuable than originally modeled.
This is why developers often build two or three cash flow views: one based on current tariffs, one based on long run average retail electricity prices, and one based on a contracted offtake rate. It is also why high quality interval load data from the host site is so useful. Annual energy use alone does not reveal whether the building can actually absorb wind generation at the right times.
Costs that should be included before you trust the payback
Simple payback is convenient, but it can create false confidence if major costs are omitted. The installed cost should include more than the turbine itself. Foundations, crane access, electrical works, switchgear, metering, interconnection studies, civil engineering, planning, noise studies, and legal fees can all be significant. For small and medium wind projects, balance of plant costs can be especially important because they do not always scale down as neatly as people expect.
Annual operations and maintenance should also be handled honestly. Some owners assume low recurring cost in the first few years and forget wear items, inverter or control component replacement, blade inspection, gearbox servicing where applicable, insurance, and remote monitoring. A calculator that understates O and M can make a borderline project appear attractive.
When this calculator is most useful
This tool is best used in the early screening phase. It helps answer questions such as:
- Is a proposed tariff rate high enough to justify the installed cost?
- How much does project value change if capacity factor is 5 percentage points lower?
- Does self consumption materially improve the economics compared with export only operation?
- What annual benefit is needed to recover capital in an acceptable timeframe?
It is not a substitute for a bankable energy yield assessment, a detailed discounted cash flow model, or legal review of the tariff contract. It does, however, provide a strong first pass view that can save time by filtering out unrealistic project ideas early.
Authoritative sources for deeper research
If you want to validate assumptions or continue your due diligence, these sources are excellent starting points:
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind energy overview
- U.S. Department of Energy, Wind Energy Technologies Office
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wind research and analysis
Final guidance before making a real investment decision
A wind turbine feed in tariff calculator is most powerful when used thoughtfully. Start with a realistic turbine size and a defensible capacity factor. Confirm whether your payment arrangement rewards all generated energy or only exported energy. Enter a retail offset rate that reflects your actual electricity bill, not a national average if your tariff class or demand profile differs materially. Include annual operating costs and the full installed capital budget. Then test the sensitivity of the result. If the project only works in the most optimistic case, it is probably not robust enough to proceed without stronger contractual support or better site data.
On the other hand, if the project still delivers a healthy annual benefit under conservative assumptions, that is a strong signal that the opportunity may deserve deeper engineering and commercial analysis. Wind projects live or die on resource quality, system uptime, and revenue certainty. A disciplined calculator approach helps you evaluate all three before significant money is committed.