MODULE 1:

Power Generation

Prepared by:
Riyas P
 CONVENTIONAL & NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY
• Sources of electrical energy are generally classified into two categories:
• Conventional energy sources.
• Non-conventional energy sources.
CONVENTIONAL:
• Energy that has been used from ancient times is known as conventional
energy. Conventional (or usual) energy sources include fossil fuels (coal,
petroleum and natural gas), water and nuclear energy. A large amount
of electrical energy is generated in conventional power plants.
NON-CONVENTIONAL:
• Some amount of electricity is generated through non-conventional
sources of energy. The sources of energy which are being produced
continuously in nature are called renewable sources of energy. They are
free of operating cost, pollution free and inexhaustible. Non-
Conventional energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, etc.
 IMPORTANCE OF NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES
• 1. They are inexhaustible and can be used to produce
energy again and again.
• 2. Non-Conventional energy sources are available in nature
free of cost. But, conventional sources of energy have a
limited supply because eventually the nuclear elements
and fossil fuels will be used up.
• 3. Non-Conventional energy sources do not pollute the
atmosphere. Thus, they are environment friendly. But,
conventional energy sources (except water) cause
pollution; thereby their use degrades the environment.
• 4. Fossil fuels are also used as raw materials in the
chemical industry, so they should be conserved for future
generations.
 DISADVANTAGES OF NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
SOURCES
1. The cost of harnessing energy from non-conventional
sources is generally high and large amounts are needed to
produce only small amounts of electrical energy. On the
other hand, conventional energy sources are the easiest and
least expensive energy sources. Coal, oil, and natural gas are
efficient energy sources because with small amounts we can
produce relatively large amounts of electrical or fuel energy.
2. Availability is uncertain. The energy flow depends on
various natural phenomena beyond human control. (For
example, the wind is not always predictable - some days
have no wind);
3. Difficult in transporting such forms of energy.
• DISADVANTAGES OF CONVENTIONAL ENERGY
SOURCES (like coal, oil, uranium etc.)
1. They are non-renewable and fast depleting (cannot
be replaced once they are used) ;
2. They emit carbon dioxide when burnt, adding to the
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and pushing us
faster towards global warming;
3. They leave behind harmful by-products upon
combustion, thereby causing a lot of pollution;
4. Mining of such fuels leads to irreversible damage to
the environment;
5. Prices for fossil fuels are rising.
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
• Generating station which converts nuclear energy into electrical
energy.
• Heavy elements such as Uranium U 235 and Thorium Th 232
are subjected to fission in a REACTOR
• Fission is a type of nuclear reaction.
• When atoms of nuclear fuels absorb free neutrons, they split
into two or more smaller nuclei and some free n.
• The free n further strike other atoms and continue a chain
reaction
• Here large amount of energy is released
 Nuclear Power Plants
 It is the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom. It is given off usually in the form of
light or heat.
 A generating station which converts nuclear energy into electrical energy is called
nuclear power plant.
 Nuclear power plant derives energy through a process known as nuclear fission reaction

 When a neutron strikes an atom of uranium, the uranium splits in to two lighter atoms
and releases heat. This process is a chain reaction and continues the fuel is completely
used
Cont..
• Nuclear Reactor
Hydro-electric power stations
• It is a power plant utilizing the potential energy of water at a
high level for the electricity generation.
• The main requirement is a dam with a high head water
content.
• The Idukki Hydroelectric Project is the biggest hydroelectric
Project in Kerala. The installed capacity of the Power House is
780MW consisting of 6 Units of 130 MW each. It comprises of
three dams at Idukki, Cheruthony and Kulamavu and related
systems. Its underground Power House is located at
Moolamattom.
HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER PLANT
• The dam is constructed across a river or lake and water from the
catchment area collects at the back of the dam to form a reservoir. A
pressure tunnel is taken off from the reservoir and water brought to
the valve house at the start of the penstock.
• The valve house contains main sluice valves and automatic isolating
valves. The former controls the water flow to the power house and the
latter cuts off supply of water when the penstock bursts.
• From the valve house, water is taken to water turbine through a huge
steel pipe known as penstock.
• The water turbine converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy.
The turbine drives the alternator which converts mechanical energy
into electrical energy.
• A surge tank (open from top) is built just before the valve house and
protects the penstock from bursting in case the turbine gates suddenly
close due to electrical load being thrown off. When the gates close,
there is a sudden stopping of water at the lower end of the penstock
and consequently the penstock can burst like. The surge tank absorbs
this pressure swing by increase in its level of water.
 Schematic arrangement of a hydro– electric plant
• Hydraulic structures: Dam, spillways ,headworks , surge
tank , penstock.
• Water turbines.
• Electrical equipments.
Cont.
• 1. Hydraulic structures.
• Dam: Barrier which stores water and creates water head.
• Spill ways: Discharge the surplus water from the storage
reservoir into river on down stream side of dam. Constructed of
concrete piers on top of dam and gates are provided for
discharge of water.
• Tunnel and Penstock
• Open or closed conduits which carries water from the
reservoir to the turbine of power house
• Tunnel: from reservoir to valve house
• Penstock: From valve house to turbine
• Valve house
• control water flow to power house and maintains air
pressure.
Penstock Turbine-
Generator
Cont.
• Surge tank
• Additional storage facility ie small reservoir or tank open at
top
• Water level rises or falls to reduce the pressure swings in
the conduit.
• Pressure regulator in the water line.
• Tailrace
• Water is discharged into tailrace after passing through
turbine
2. Water turbines. Water turbines are used to convert
the energy of falling water into mechanical energy. The
principal types of water turbines are :
(i) Impulse turbines (ii) Reaction turbines
(i) Impulse turbines. Such turbines are used for high
heads. Turbine rotates due to water hitting the buckets
of turbine. In an impulse turbine, the entire pressure of
water is converted into kinetic energy in a nozzle and
the velocity of the jet drives the wheel. The example of
this type of turbine is the Pelton wheel
Impulse Turbine
(ii) Reaction turbines. Reaction turbines are used for low
and medium heads. Turbine rotates due to force exerted
by water when it flows inside the turbine. In a reaction
turbine, water enters the runner partly with pressure
energy and partly with velocity head. The important
types of reaction turbines are :
(a) Francis turbines (b) Kaplan turbines
A Francis turbine is used for low to medium
heads. It consists of an outer ring of stationary guide
blades fixed to the turbine casing and an inner ring of
rotating blades forming the runner. The guide blades
control the flow of water to the turbine.
A Kaplan turbine is used for low heads and large
quantities of water. It is similar to Francis turbine
except that the runner of Kaplan turbine receives water
axially.
3. Electrical equipment. The electrical equipment of a
hydro-electric power station includes alternators,
transformers, circuit breakers and other switching and
protective devices.
• Power house
• It consists of turbine and generator
• Turbine convert hydraulic energy of flowing water to
mechanical energy
• Generator convert mechanical energy to electrical energy
REACTION TURBINE
KAPLAN TURBINE
FRANCIS TURBINE
 Working
• Initially the water of the river is in Catchments Area.
• From the catchment area the water flows to the dam.
• At the dam the water gets accumulated. Thus the potential energy of the water
increases due to the height of the dam.
• When the gates of the dam are opened then the water moves with high Kinetic
Energy into the penstock.
• Through the penstock water goes to the turbine house.
• Since the penstock makes water to flow from high altitude to low altitude, Thus the
Kinetic Energy of the water is again raised.
• This kinetic energy drives the turbine and the turbine is coupled to the alternator
• Thus alternator runs and produces electricity.
•
 STEAM/ THERMAL POWER STATIONS
A generating station which converts heat energy of coal
combustion into electrical energy.

SCHEMATIC ARRANGEMENT
• Coal and ash handling arrangement
• Steam generating plant
• Steam turbine
• Alternator
• Feed water
• Cooling arrangement
• Coal and ash handling plant: coal is transported to the PS &
stored in coal storage plant and delivered to coal handling
plant. Coal burnt in boiler & ash produced is removed to ash
handling plant and delivered to ash storage plant for disposal.
• Boiler: The heat of combustion of coal in the boiler is utilized
to convert water into steam at high temperature and pressure.
• super heater: steam produced in the boiler is wet and is
passed through superheater where it is dried and superheated
by flue gases on their way to chimney.
• Economiser: It’s a feed water heater & derives heat from flue
gases.
• Air preheater: it increases temperature of air supplied for coal
burning by delivering heat from flue gases.
Condenser
• The steam coming out of the turbine is condensed to water
using a condenser and cooling tower arrangement
• The condensed water is very pure and recycled through the
process.
• The boiler feed pump sends this water to the boiler through
the economizer.
Turbine and generator
Dry and superheated steam from the superheater is fed to the
steam turbine through main valve
_ Heat energy of steam when passing through blades of turbine
converted to mechanical energy.
• Steam turbines are used to rotate the alternator which
converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
• Electrical energy from alternator is delivered to the busbars
through transformer, circuit breaker and isolators.
Solar power generation
• Sun is the prime source of energy
• Solar energy energy is divided into two
• Solar Thermal Plant
• Solar cells
• The solar electrical energy is of special importance in India that
 There is a need for conservation of fossil fuel resources,
such as gas, oil, coal etc
 There is a need for reducing atmospheric and thermal
pollution which are harmful to environment.
 There is a need for supply of electrical energy in remote
areas.
Solar thermal system
• The system which convert solar heat into useful energy using collectors
• This heat is used to generate steam and electrical energy
• The solar radiations are concentrated to the boiler using
reflectors called heliostat.
• The reflectors are of different types. The most preferred is
parabolic type.
• This heat will boil the water and produce steam
• The steam drive the turbine and thereby alternator.
Noor Concentrated Solar Park- Morocco- 580 MW
Solar thermal system
Advantages
1. Renewable source: no fuel required
2. There is no pollution
Disadvantage
3. Main disadvantage is sun energy available for only part
of the day, and cloudy atmospheric conditions effects
most
4. Cost is large
5. Solar tracking system required for sun angle tracking
Photo voltaic systems (Solar cell/PV Cell)
• In SPV system the visible light is directly converted into electricity(DC)
by solar cell (Si)
• A solar cell is basically a pn junction diode
• Solar radiations carry energy in the form of photons and this will help to
break the bonds in the crystal and generates electron-hole pairs.
• Thus the pn junction diode is forward biased and current flows.
• The diode will be forward biased and will generate electorn hole Voltage
generated by a typical Si solar cell is around 0.5 V and the efficiency is
around 10-15%.
• A set of cells are connected in series and properly laminated is called
solar module.

Classified as :
Stand alone system (Off Grid System)
Grid connected system (On Grid System)
Solar photo voltaic systems (SPV)
Stand alone system(Off Grid System)
• Stand-alone PV systems are designed to operate without being
connected to utility supply (KSEB)
• It uses a battery source to store the solar power.
• They are commonly used in remote areas where utility supply
is not available.
• Independent of the electric utility grid
Grid connected Solar PV Systems (On Grid Systems)
• Solar modules are used along with utility supply. The supply
can be changed using a change over switch
• No battery storage is provided.
• The excess power can be fed to the grid.
Solar photo voltaic systems (SPV)
• Solar PV panels deliver dc electric power only during
favourable conditions of sunlight. To obtain power during
cloudy weather or during night energy storage batteries are
used.
• Some of the loads require ac supply hence dc power should
be converted to ac power by means of inverters.
• Advantages
• Clean, noiseless and safe.
• Produce energy at the location of utilization.
• Reliable service and long life.
• Disadvantages
• Need for storage batteries.
• Irregular and intermittent.
• High capital cost.
Solar photo voltaic systems (SPV)
Advantages Disadvantages
Directly convert solar energy to electric It has high cost of installation
power without any use of moving parts

More reliable, durable and maintenance It has low efficiency

free

It works without any noise It requires large area for the

installation

It is non polluting Its output is not constant

It has long life span

It can be located near the point of load and
requires no distribution system
 Designing of a Solar Power
Plant
• A solar plant can be designed at a residential level usage to large scale industrial usage.
• The major steps in the process of setting up a solar plant are as follows.
1. Calculating the load requirement
• The total load requirement in terms of power(Watts) and energy usage(Kwh) on a daily basis have
to be prepared.
• Also estimate the hourly usage of this load
2.Selection of PV Panel
• This is the most crucial part in the process
• Solar panels are available at wide variety of ratings and sizes. Select the appropriate rating and
size as per the requirement.
3.Preparing the layout of Design
• The layout refers to the arrangement of solar modules. The panels can be arranged in series,
parallel or their combination
• The step also refers to planning the usage of available space for installation of PV panels.
4. Selecting Inverter
• The primary output of inverter is to convert the DC output of PV cell to
AC
• Inverter are rated based on voltage, power rating and energy rating.
5. Selection of Battery
• The battery sizing is based on how much energy is required to store.
Batteries are rated in Ampere hour (Ah).some additional power is added
to final value for future expansion of loads.
6. Selection of Charge Controller
• Charge controller provides fixed supply even though PV output is
varying. It also prevents overcharging of battery and reverse power flow.
Wind energy
Wind energy Conversion System (WECS)
• winds can be used to run wind turbines. Winds are
produced due to pressure difference in the atmosphere.
• Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into
mechanical power and then to electrical power.
• A wind electric generator consists of mainly a wind
turbine, a generator, a speed changing gear system which
couples the turbine with the generator and the control
equipments.
• Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as
offshore and high altitude sites, are preferred locations for
wind farms.
Basic components of wind energy
conversion system(WECS)
WECS
• Aero turbines convert energy in moving air to rotary mechanical energy.
• They require pitch and yaw control for optimum operation.
• Yaw control: as wind direction changes a motor rotates turbine slowly
so as to face the blades into the wind.
• Pitch control: pitch angle is the incident angle of wind with blade. Max
power when pitch angle is zero. This control provided by pitch control.
• A mechanical interface consisting of a step up gear and a suitable
coupling transmits the rotary mechanical energy to an electric
generator.
• Output of this generator connected to load or power grid.
• The purpose of controller is to sense various factors as necessary and
appropriate control signals for matching electrical output to wind
energy input and protect the system from extreme conditions brought
by strong winds, electrical faults etc
• The power from wind energy is given by
 Wind energy
Advantages Disadvantages
Renewable In many areas, the winds strength is too low
to support a wind turbine or wind farm.
The land around the turbine can be Wind turbines generally produce less
used for many purposes, for example electricity than the average fossil fuelled
agriculture. power station,

No air pollution Wind electricity requires multiple wind

turbines. large areas are needed.
Newer technologies are making the Wind turbine construction is very expensive
extraction of wind energy much more and costly
efficient.
The wind is free, and we are able to The noise pollution from commercial wind
cash in on this free source of energy. turbines.
Jiuquan Wind Power Base, China-Largest wind Farm in the world
Jaisalmeer Wind Park-Largest wind Farm in India-1600MW
Offshore Wind Energy-Future of wind energy
Economics of Power Generation
Load Curve
 The load on a power station is never fixed. it varies from time to time
 The load variations plotted against time is called load curve
 Daily load curve displays load variations hourly or half hourly for a day. There will be
monthly and yearly load curves which is essential for analysising performance of
power plant
 Load curve are important due to following reasons
 It shows variation of load with time.daily load curve is essential for the
operation of power plant
 The total area under load curve gives total units(Kwh) produced
 The highest point on the load curve gives maximum demand on the station on
that day
 The area under load curve divided by total number of hours gives average load
 The ratio of area of load curve to the to the total area of rectangle gives load
factor
 Load curve helps in selecting size and number of generating units
 Load curve helps in preparing operation schedule
 Load Duration Curve
 When the load elements on the load curve are arranged in the order of descending
magnitude, it is termed as load duration curve
 The highest load is presented first and then decrease to the right
 The load duration curve shows the number of hours for which that load prevailed
 Area under load curve gives number of units generated
Connected Load
 It is the sum of ratings of all devices connected to the supply system
 It is the ratio of maximum demand on the power station to connected load.

Maximum Demand
 It is the greatest demand of load on the power system during a given period of time

Demand Factor
 Its value will be always less than 1 because maximum demand will be always less
than connected load
 The knowledge about demand factor helps in determining plant capacity

Demand factor=
Average Load
 It is the average of demand occurring in a power station over a given period of time

Number of units Generated in a day

Average Load 
24 hours
Load Factor
 It is the ratio of average load to maximum demand

 Load factor is always less than 1 because average load is greater than maximum
demand
 It plays a key role in determining overall cost per unit. Higher the load factor lesser
will be the cost per unit
Diversity Factor
 It is the ratio of sum of individual maximum demand to maximum demand on the
power station

 Diversity factor will be greater than 1 since individual maximum demand of users
will not occur at same time hence maximum demand on station will be always less
than sum of individual maximum demands of users
 Higher the diversity factor, lesser cost of generation of power.

Plant Capacity Factor

 It is the ratio of actual energy produced to the maximum possible energy that could have
been produced during given time

 Plant capacity factor is an indication of reserve capacity of plant

Plant Use Factor
 It is the ratio of KWh generated to the product of plant capacity and number of hours for
which plant was in operation

 Plant capacity factor gives an indication about maximum possible efficiency of the plant when
it is operated at its full power. Plant use factor shows the efficiency of the plant for a given
period
Units Generated
 Bulk Power Grids
•A bulk power grid is an interconnected network of large power generatiing
stations, transmission lines and distribution lines.
•The power will be generated at power stations based on the demand of users
•This is a centralized system where the generation transmission and distribution
are controlled and monitored by corresponding entities.
•The users are merely consumers and have no role in the process and the utility
has monopoly in the process.
Drawbacks
•Poor quality of supply since there is no competition
•Chances of blackout, less generation to demand and load shedding
•Not competitive price for electricity
•Complete monopoly of utility company
 Micro grid
•A micro grid is a small scale power supply system which are designed to meet
local demand in an area.
•The generation plants are highly flexible and includes, PV cells, wind turbines,
Diesel generators, storage batteries etc.
•This is also called distributed generation (DR).
•The micro grid will be be connected to a utility grid. The excess power can be
given to the grid.
•By connecting the micro grid to the utility grid, the reliability of a system
improves.
•The size of micro gird ranges from a house to a municipal area.
•A micro grid is connected to utility grid at a point called Point of Coupling (PCC).
Under emergency conditions, micro grid can be disconnected from utility grid.
 Micro grid
Advantages
•It is the solution to rising energy crisis
•The reliability of power system improves
•The transmission losses reduces
•The user gets high quality power supply
•The dependence of utility grid reduces
•Microgrid reduces pollution since the bulk power stations now can reduce their
generation.

Drawbacks
•The intermittent nature of renewable sources in micro grid
•Lack of proper rules and standards for micro grid
•Islanding operation: The utility is not generating power while power from micro
gird flows to utility grid creating damages and accidents.
•Battery banks required for storage of energy
•resynchronization to grid is difficult.
 Smart grid
•Smart grid is a modernized version of power system which has advanced power
generation schemes, metering system, monitoring system and energy
management systems
•The major features of smart grid are
• The utility and users are connected over internet. The communication s
birectional.Advanced metering systems in which users can now know their
real-time power consumption. The utility can identify the loads and monitor
the user loads
• The utility generates power based on user demand and balances demand-
supply. Smart grid uses more advanced sensors and artificial intelligence.
• The smart grid uses advanced and fast monitoring systems like phasor
measurement unit (PMU)which helps to identify faults better, future system
planning etc
• It integrates more renewable energy sources
Comparison of Conventional Utility Grid and Smart Grid

Conventional utility
Characteristics Smart grid
grid
Active participation Consumers are
Consumers are uninformed
consumer involved ,informed and
and they do not participate
participate actively

Provision of power quality Response to power quality Rapid resolution of power

for the division of economy issues are low quality issues with priority

Many DERs with plug-and-

Accommodation of all Many obstacles exist for
play option can be integrated
generation integration of DERs
at any time

Greatly expanded data

Little incorporation of
acquisition of grid
operational data with asset
Optimization of assets parameters ;focus on
management –business
prevention ,minimizing
process silos
impact to consumers
 Characteristics Conventional utility grid Smart grid

Limited and poorly integrated Mature and well integrated

New products, service and
wholesale markets ; limited wholesale markets ; growth of new
markets
opportunities for consumers electricity markets for consumers

Resilient to cyber attack and natural

Resiliency against cyber Vulnerable to malicious acts of terror
disasters ; rapid restoration
attack and natural disasters and natural disasters ; slow response
capabilities

Anticipating responses to Responds to prevent further damage; Automatically detects and responds
system disturbances(self- Focus on protecting assets following to problems ; focus on prevention ;
healing) a fault minimizing impact to consumers

Topology Mainly radial Network

Restoration Manual Decentralized control

Based on static ,offline models and Proactive , real-time predictions ,

Reliability
simulations more actual system data

Power flow control Limited More extensive

 Conventional utility
Characteristics Smart grid
grid
Centralized and distributed .
Generation Centralized Substantial RES and energy
storage
Distributed monitoring ,
Operation and maintenance Manual and dispatching
diagnostics and predictive
Extensive two-way
Interaction with energy users Limited to large energy users
communications

System communications Limited to power companies Expanded and real-time

Reaction time Slow reaction time Extremely quick reaction time

 Energy Storage Technologies.
• Energy storage systems are essential when more renewable energy is
used as they are quite variable and more dependent on temperature.
• Energy storage devices are of various types. Some are used for short
term storage while others are for long term
• The most commonly used are rechargeable battery which stores
energy in the form of chemical energy.
 Grid Storage Systems
• Grid storage systems refers to a collection of methods for large scale storage of power
within the grid.
• The electrical power can be stored in convenient forms and will be converted back to
electrical energy when needed.
• Electricity is stored when they are produced in excess or when they are more available
from renewable energy sources or when demand is low.
• This stored power can be returned to the grid, when the demand is high or electricity
prices are higher.
• Storing energy increases reliability of supply and balances demand supply. This also
avoids possibilities of power shortage, load shedding etc.
• The commonly used techniques are
• Battery storage
• Ultra capacitors
• Hydro storage