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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Wind Energy

Cut-in speed

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In energy & renewables, cut-in speed means: The lowest wind speed at which a wind turbine starts to produce usable electricity, typically about 3 metres per second for modern machines.

In Turkish: devreye girme hızı, kalkış rüzgar hızı

How it is used

Found on turbine datasheets and power curves together with rated speed (where the turbine reaches full power) and cut-out speed (where it stops to protect itself, often around 25 m/s). Engineers use these values to estimate the energy yield of a site.

Example sentences

  1. With a cut-in speed of 3 m/s, the turbine produces power for most of the year at this site.

  2. Check the cut-in speed, rated speed and cut-out speed on the power curve.

Common collocations

  • cut-in wind speed
  • rated wind speed
  • cut-out speed
  • power curve
  • wind turbineA tall machine with large blades that turn in the wind and drive a generator to produce electricity. Modern turbines often stand on towers more than 100 metres high.
  • energy yieldThe amount of electricity a solar or wind plant produces, or is expected to produce, over a period, usually a year. It is the basis of revenue forecasts.
  • nacelleThe large housing on top of a wind turbine tower that contains the main machinery, such as the gearbox, generator, shaft and control systems.
  • capacity factorThe ratio of the electricity a plant actually produces over a period to what it would produce running at full capacity the whole time, shown as a percentage.

More terms: Wind Energy

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