Power station

A power station, also referred to as a generating station, power plant, powerhouse, or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Engineers and utility staff usually use the female gender when referring to a power station - its working parts are perhaps regarded as a form of beached, inland, ship, as they in the past would always have resembled a ship's steam turbine propulsion equipment. 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. There is some debate within utility and engineering circles over whether a solar array (whether roof or ground mounted), or wind farm, should be referred to as a power station, or simply as a generator. The same ambiguity applies when talking about, say, one reciprocating engine driving a 5 MW network-connected alternator; many would prefer to call it a generator, not a power station - but if the installation comprised more than one alternator/engine, or if capacity were much larger than that, the term power station would be widely accepted.

In 1868 a hydro electric 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.

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