The vocabulary of wind performance.

Practitioner definitions across performance and output, losses and faults, operations and maintenance, and the data behind them.

A working vocabulary for the teams accountable for a fleet's production: what each term means, where the industry uses it loosely, and how it appears in SCADA data. Every definition links to the terms it depends on, so a concept can be followed rather than looked up one word at a time.

Wind performance vocabulary, defined as operators use it.

Availability, capacity factor, performance ratio, and losses all mean slightly different things depending on who is selling. A written definition is the cheapest form of honesty available to a vendor, because it can be held against the product afterwards.

These are therefore practitioner definitions rather than marketing ones. Where a term has a precise meaning it is given, and where the industry genuinely disagrees, that is stated.

Each definition links to the terms it depends on, which is what makes the set usable rather than merely alphabetical.

Three ways in.

You have met a term and want it defined

Use site search or the category sections below. Every definition opens with a one-line answer before it explains anything.

You are comparing performance claims

Start with the terms that decide whether two figures are comparable at all: availability, capacity factor, and how a loss is attributed.

You are planning maintenance

The condition and failure-mode terms explain what a predictive alert is actually detecting, and what it is not.

Performance & Output

Capacity factor

The energy a turbine actually produced over a period, divided by what it would have produced running at rated power the whole time.

Power curve

The relationship between wind speed and power output for a turbine - the manufacturer's version is a specification, and the real one is measured.

Availability

The share of time a turbine was able to operate, distinguishing hours lost to faults and maintenance from hours with no usable wind.

Losses & Faults

Yaw misalignment

A persistent offset between where a turbine points and where the wind is actually coming from, quietly costing energy without raising a fault.

Wake effect

The slower, more turbulent air left behind an upwind turbine, which reduces output and increases loading on the machines downwind of it.

Operations & Maintenance

Curtailment

Output deliberately held below what the wind would allow - for grid limits, negative prices, noise rules, or wildlife protection.

Predictive maintenance

Servicing equipment when evidence says it is degrading, rather than on a fixed schedule or after it has already failed.

Data & Modeling

SCADA data

The operational record a turbine already produces - power, wind speed, temperatures, and status codes, usually averaged into ten-minute intervals.

A more intelligent approach to sustainable energy.

See how OpenTurbine can help your team understand performance, anticipate operational issues, and make better decisions across your wind assets.

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