Power station

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"Power plant" redirects here. For other uses, see Power plant (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Power station (disambiguation).

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The Athlone Power Station in Cape Town, South Africa

Hydroelectric power station at Gabčíkovo Dam, Slovakia

Hydroelectric power station at Glen Canyon Dam, Page, Arizona

A power station, also referred to as a power plant or powerhouse and sometimes
generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the
generation of electric power. Most power stations contain one or more generators, a
rotating machine that converts mechanical power into electrical power. The relative
motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates an electrical current. The
energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. Most power stations in
the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate
electricity. Others use nuclear power, but there is an increasing use of cleaner
renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave and hydroelectric.

Contents
1 History
2 Thermal power stations
2.1 Classification
2.1.1 By heat source
2.1.2 By prime mover
2.1.3 By duty
2.2 Cooling towers
2.3 Once-through cooling systems
3 Power from renewable energy
3.1 Hydroelectric power station
3.2 Solar
3.3 Wind
3.4 Marine
3.5 Osmosis
3.6 Biomass
4 Storage power stations
4.1 Pumped storage
5 Typical power output
6 Operations
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
In 1878 a hydroelectric power station was designed and built by Lord Armstrong at
Cragside, England. It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos.
The electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an
elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings.[1]

In the early 1870s Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a generator powerful
enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry.[2]

In the autumn of 1882, a central station providing public power was built in
Godalming, England. It was proposed after the town failed to reach an agreement on
the rate charged by the gas company, so the town council decided to use
electricity. It used hydroelectric power for street lighting and household
lighting. The system was not a commercial success and the town reverted to gas.[3]

In 1882 the world's first coal-fired public power station, the Edison Electric
Light Station, was built in London, a project of Thomas Edison organized by Edward
Johnson. A Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 125-horsepower steam engine that drove
a 27-ton generator. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be
reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, which was
the monopoly of the gas companies. The customers included the City Temple and the
Old Bailey. Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post
Office, but this could not be reached though the culverts. Johnson arranged for the
supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate.[4]