Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The net capacity factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its output if it had operated at full nameplate capacity the entire time. To calculate the capacity factor, total energy the plant produced during a period of time and divide by the energy the plant would have produced at full capacity. Capacity factors vary greatly depending on the type of fuel that is used and the design of the plant. The capacity factor should not be confused with the availability factor or with efficiency.