History and Evolution of Electricity Generation
– Fundamental principles of electricity generation discovered by Michael Faraday in the 1820s and 1830s
– Central power stations became economically practical with the development of AC power transmission
– Commercial electricity production started in 1882 with the coupling of dynamo to hydraulic turbine
– Electricity quickly adopted by cities worldwide for public lighting and transportation
– Various energy sources used throughout history, including water power, coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, oil, solar, tidal, and geothermal
Cost and Economics of Renewable Energy
– Past costs of producing renewable energy have significantly declined
– In 2020, 62% of total renewable power generation had lower costs than the cheapest new fossil fuel option
– Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) measures the average net present cost of electricity generation
– Solar panels have seen a notable decline in costs for energy generation
– Increasing implementation of renewable energy sources has led to decreased costs for renewables
– The economics of electricity production modes vary according to demand and region
– Hydroelectric, nuclear, thermal, and renewable sources each have pros and cons
– Selection of production modes is based on local power requirements and demand fluctuations
– Natural gas-generated electricity can be cheaper than coal-generated electricity if well construction costs are below $10 per MWh
– Nuclear power plants can produce a large amount of power, but their capital cost is high
Methods and Technologies of Electricity Generation
– Utility-scale generation achieved through rotating electric generators or photovoltaic systems
– Batteries provide a small proportion of electric power distributed by utilities
– Niche applications include electricity generation through the triboelectric effect, piezoelectric effect, thermoelectric effect, and betavoltaics
– Coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, and other sources contribute to world electricity generation
– In 2019, coal accounted for 37%, natural gas 24%, hydro 16%, nuclear 10%, wind 5%, solar 3%, and other 5% of total generation
– Electric generators transform kinetic energy into electricity
– Faraday’s law is the basis for generating electricity through electromagnetic induction
– Almost all commercial electrical generation relies on electromagnetic induction
– Rotating a magnet within closed loops of conducting material demonstrates the generation of electricity
– Wind turbines often work in conjunction with other methods to provide electrical generation
– Electrochemistry involves the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity
– Battery technology plays a crucial role in portable and mobile applications
– Large dams, such as Hoover Dam, can provide significant hydroelectric power
– Electrochemical power is currently derived from batteries
– Electrochemistry is an important aspect of electricity generation in various applications
Solar Power Generation
– The photovoltaic effect is the transformation of light into electrical energy
– Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight directly to DC electricity
– Power inverters can convert DC electricity to AC electricity if needed
– Solar power electricity is usually more expensive to produce than large-scale mechanically generated power due to the cost of panels
– Low-efficiency silicon solar cells have been decreasing in cost and high-efficiency multijunction cells are now commercially available
– Photovoltaic power stations, also known as solar parks or solar farms, are large-scale grid-connected systems
– Utility-scale solar power stations supply power at the utility level
– Photovoltaic technology is the most widely used approach for utility-scale solar power
– The nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations is often rated in megawatt-peak
– The world’s largest operating photovoltaic power stations have surpassed 1 gigawatt capacity
Wind Power Generation
– Wind farms, also called wind power stations or wind power plants, are groups of wind turbines used to produce electricity
– Wind farms can be onshore or offshore
– Some of the largest onshore wind farms are located in China, India, and the United States
– The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world
– The Hornsea Wind Farm in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery (transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its storage (using, for example, the pumped-storage method).
Usable electricity is not freely available in nature, so it must be "produced" (that is, transforming other forms of energy to electricity). Production is carried out in power stations (also called "power plants"). Electricity is most often generated at a power plant by electromechanical generators, primarily driven by heat engines fueled by combustion or nuclear fission but also by other means such as the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other energy sources include solar photovoltaics and geothermal power. There are also exotic and speculative methods to recover energy, such as proposed fusion reactor designs which aim to directly extract energy from intense magnetic fields generated by fast-moving charged particles generated by the fusion reaction (see magnetohydrodynamics).
Phasing out coal-fired power stations and eventually gas-fired power stations, or, if practical, capturing their greenhouse gas emissions, is an important part of the energy transformation required to limit climate change. Vastly more solar power and wind power is forecast to be required, with electricity demand increasing strongly with further electrification of transport, homes and industry. However, in 2023, it was reported that the global electricity supply was approaching peak CO2 emissions thanks to the growth of solar and wind power.
