HOW IS THE PRODUCTION (GENERATION) OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY CARRIED OUT?

Production (Generation) of electricity  is the process of converting various types of energy into electricity at industrial facilities called power plants. Currently, there are the following types of generation:

Thermal power engineering . In this case, the thermal energy of combustion of organic fuels is converted into electrical energy. Thermal power engineering includes thermal power plants (TPPs), which come in two main types:

Condensing (KES, the old abbreviation GRES is also used). Condensing is the name given to non-combined generation of electrical energy;

District heating (thermal power plants, combined heat and power plants). Cogeneration is the combined production of electrical and thermal energy at the same station;

CPP and CHP have similar technological processes. In both cases, there is a boiler in which fuel is burned and steam under pressure is heated due to the heat generated. Next, the heated steam is supplied to a steam turbine , where its thermal energy is converted into rotational energy. The turbine shaft rotates the rotor of the electric generator  - thus the rotational energy is converted into electrical energy, which is supplied to the network. The fundamental difference between CHP and CES is that part of the steam heated in the boiler is used for heat supply needs;

Nuclear energy. This includes nuclear power plants (NPPs). In practice, nuclear power is often considered a subtype of thermal power, since, in general, the principle of generating electricity at nuclear power plants is the same as at thermal power plants. Only in this case, thermal energy is released not during the combustion of fuel, but during the fission of atomic nuclei in a nuclear reactor . Further, the electricity production scheme is no fundamentally different from a thermal power plant: steam is heated in a reactor, enters a steam turbine, etc. Due to some design features of nuclear power plants, it is unprofitable to use them in combined generation, although separate experiments have been carried out in this direction;

Hydropower. This includes hydroelectric power plants (HPP). In hydropower, the kinetic energy of water flow is converted into electrical energy. To do this, with the help of dams on rivers, a difference in water surface levels is artificially created (the so-called upper and lower pools). Under the influence of gravity, water flows from the upper pool to the lower one through special channels in which water turbines are located, the blades of which are spun by the water flow. The turbine rotates the rotor of the electric generator. A special type of hydroelectric power station is pumped storage power station (PSPP). They cannot be considered generating facilities in their pure form, since they consume almost the same amount of electricity as they generate, however, such stations are very effective in unloading the network during peak hours;

Alternative energy . This includes methods of generating electricity that have a number of advantages compared to “traditional” ones, but for various reasons have not received sufficient distribution. The main types of alternative energy are:

Wind energy  is the use of kinetic wind energy to generate electricity;

Solar energy - obtaining electrical energy from the energy of solar rays;

Common disadvantages of wind and solar energy are the relative low power of generators and their high cost. Also, in both cases, storage capacity is required for nighttime (for solar energy) and calm (for wind energy) periods;

Geothermal energy is the use of the Earth's natural heat to generate electrical energy. In essence, geothermal stations are ordinary thermal power plants, in which the heat source for heating steam is not a boiler or a nuclear reactor, but underground sources of natural heat. The disadvantage of such stations is the geographical limitation of their use: geothermal stations are cost-effective to build only in regions of tectonic activity, that is, where natural heat sources are most accessible;

Hydrogen energy - the use of hydrogen as an energy fuel has great prospects: hydrogen has a very high combustion efficiency , its resource is practically unlimited, the combustion of hydrogen is absolutely environmentally friendly (the product of combustion in an oxygen atmosphere is distilled water). However, hydrogen energy is currently not able to fully satisfy the needs of mankind due to the high cost of producing pure hydrogen and technical problems of transporting it in large quantities;

It is also worth noting alternative types of hydropower : tidal and wave energy. In these cases, the natural kinetic energy of sea tides and wind waves, respectively, is used. The spread of these types of electric power is hampered by the need for the coincidence of too many factors when designing a power plant: not just a sea coast is needed, but a coast on which the tides (and sea waves, respectively) would be strong enough and constant. For example, the Black Sea coast is not suitable for the construction of tidal power plants, since the differences in the Black Sea water level at high and low tide are minimal.