A large nuclear power plant has a capacity of 4GW and a capacity factor of about 90%.
How much installed capacity of wind turbines with a capacity factor of 40% would be required to match that output?
Here is my attempt -
From the document "Capacity Densities of European Offshore Wind Farms" Capacity density of a wind farm is defined as the ratio of the wind farm’s rated capacity to its ground area. Capacity density is expressed in megawatts per square kilometer.
Average Europe capacity densities are in the range 5.0 - 5.4 MW/sq km
40% capacity factors from offshore wind would be considered a good result.
Taking these two values, the long term average power output from each square kilometer of offshore wind would be 2 - 2.16 MW
To match that large nuclear power plant output of 3,600 MW would require 1800 - 1667 sq km. (694 - 640 sq miles)
Approx 1,700 sq km (656 sq miles) area to match one power station seems a lot. That's more than the area of greater London (about 1,600 sq km)
Am I correct, or what have I done wrong?