The efficiency of wind power companies in electricity generation

This study analyses the assessment of the relative efficiency of electricity generation of 78 wind power companies in 12 selected European countries. The basic purpose is to identify the factors that improve the efficiency of wind power companies as important producers of renewable electricity. The Data Envelopment Analysis method was applied (input-oriented BCC model). Considering the required average improvements in input variables, different projection amounts aiming to move individual factors to the efficiency frontier, ranging from 3.6% to 10.2%. This is the first study to analyse the comprehensive performance of wind power companies including their economic and technical characteristics, which is a major divergence from previous studies and makes a significant contribution to the development of wind energy. • Wind power companies performance including economic and technical characteristics. • By using capital and fuel, modified Cobb-Douglas production function was introduced. • Out of 78 companies, 34 were fully efficient, 24 weakly efficient and 20 inefficient. • Identifying factors that will enhance the efficiency of wind power companies. • Average efficiency improvements in input variables are with a range of 3.6%–10.2%.