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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.
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. Cleaner sources include nuclear power, and increasingly use renewables such as the sun, wind, waves and running water.
The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a metric that attempts to compare the costs of different methods of electricity generation consistently. Though LCOE is often presented as the minimum constant price at which electricity must be sold to break even over the lifetime of the project, such a cost analysis requires assumptions about the value of various non-financial costs (environmental ...
Electricity is mostly generated at a power station by electromechanical generators, driven by heat engines heated by combustion, geothermal power or nuclear fission. Other generators are driven by the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. There are many other technologies that are used to generate electricity such as photovoltaic solar panels.
Gross generation or gross electric output is the total amount of electricity generated by a power plant over a specific period of time. [29] It is measured at the generating terminal and is measured in kilowatt-hours (kW·h), megawatt-hours (MW·h), [30] gigawatt-hours (GW·h) or for the largest power plants terawatt-hours (TW·h). It includes ...
Until then, electricity was usually generated where it was used. The first power-distribution systems installed in European and US cities were used to supply lighting: arc lighting running on very-high-voltage (around 3,000 V) alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), and incandescent lighting running on low-voltage (100 V) direct ...