Industry that provides the production and delivery of electric energy
The
electric power industry
covers the
generation
,
transmission
,
distribution
and
sale
of
electric power
to the general public and industry. The commercial distribution of electric power started in 1882 when electricity was produced for
electric lighting
. In the 1880s and 1890s, growing economic and safety concerns lead to the regulation of the industry. What was once an expensive novelty limited to the most densely populated areas, reliable and economical electric power has become an essential aspect for normal operation of all elements of developed economies.
By the middle of the 20th century, electricity was seen as a "
natural monopoly
", only efficient if a restricted number of organizations participated in the market; in some areas, vertically-integrated companies provide all stages from generation to retail, and only governmental supervision regulated the rate of return and cost structure.
Since the 1990s, many regions have broken up the generation and distribution of electric power
[
citation needed
]
. While such markets can be abusively
manipulated
with consequent adverse price and reliability impact to consumers, generally competitive production of electrical energy leads to worthwhile improvements in efficiency
[
citation needed
]
. However, transmission and distribution are harder problems since
returns on investment
are not as easy to find.
History
[
edit
]
Although electricity had been known to be produced as a result of the chemical reactions that take place in an
electrolytic cell
since
Alessandro Volta
developed the
voltaic pile
in 1800, its production by this means was, and still is, expensive. In 1831,
Michael Faraday
devised a machine that generated electricity from rotary motion, but it took almost 50 years for the technology to reach a commercially viable stage. In 1878, in the
United States
,
Thomas Edison
developed and sold a commercially viable replacement for gas lighting and heating using locally generated and distributed
direct current
electricity.
Robert Hammond
, in December 1881, demonstrated the new electric light in the
Sussex
town of
Brighton
in the UK for a trial period. The ensuing success of this installation enabled Hammond to put this venture on both a commercial and legal footing, as a number of shop owners wanted to use the new electric light. Thus the Hammond Electricity Supply Co. was launched.
In early 1882, Edison opened the world's first steam-powered electricity generating station at
Holborn Viaduct
in
London
, where he had entered into an agreement with the City Corporation for a period of three months to provide street lighting. In time he had supplied a number of local consumers with electric light. The method of supply was direct current (DC). Whilst the Godalming and the 1882
Holborn Viaduct Scheme
closed after a few years the Brighton Scheme continued on, and supply was in 1887 made available for 24 hours per day.
It was later on in the year in September 1882 that Edison opened the
Pearl Street Power Station
in
New York City
and again it was a DC supply. It was for this reason that the generation was close to or on the consumer's premises as Edison had no means of voltage conversion. The voltage chosen for any electrical system is a compromise. For a given amount of power transmitted, increasing the
voltage
reduces the
current
and therefore reduces the required wire thickness. Unfortunately it also increases the
danger from direct contact
and increases the required
insulation
thickness. Furthermore, some load types were difficult or impossible to make work with higher voltages. The overall effect was that Edison's system required power stations to be within a mile of the consumers. While this could work in city centres, it would be unable to economically supply suburbs with power.
[1]
The mid to late 1880s saw the introduction of
alternating current
(AC) systems in Europe and the U.S. AC power had an advantage in that
transformers
, installed at
power stations
, could be used to raise the voltage from the generators, and transformers at local
substations
could reduce voltage to supply loads. Increasing the voltage reduced the current in the transmission and distribution lines and hence the size of conductors and distribution losses. This made it more economical to distribute power over long distances. Generators (such as
hydroelectric
sites) could be located far from the loads. AC and DC competed for a while, during a period called the
war of the currents
. The DC system was able to claim slightly greater safety, but this difference was not great enough to overwhelm the enormous technical and economic advantages of alternating current which eventually won out.
[1]
The AC power system used today developed rapidly, backed by industrialists such as
George Westinghouse
with
Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky
,
Galileo Ferraris
,
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti
,
Lucien Gaulard
, John Dixon Gibbs,
Carl Wilhelm Siemens
,
William Stanley Jr.
,
Nikola Tesla
, and others contributed to this field.
Power electronics
is the application of
solid-state electronics
to the control and conversion of electric power. Power electronics started with the development of the
mercury arc rectifier
in 1902, used to convert AC into DC. From the 1920s on, research continued on applying
thyratrons
and grid-controlled mercury arc valves to power transmission. Grading electrodes made them suitable for
high voltage direct current
(HVDC) power transmission. In 1933, selenium rectifiers were invented.
[2]
Transistor
technology dates back to 1947, with the invention of the
point-contact transistor
, which was followed by the
bipolar junction transistor
(BJT) in 1948. By the 1950s, higher power semiconductor
diodes
became available and started replacing
vacuum tubes
. In 1956, the
silicon controlled rectifier
(SCR) was introduced, increasing the range of power electronic applications.
[3]
A breakthrough in power electronics came with the invention of the
MOSFET
(metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) in 1959. Generations of MOSFETs enabled power designers to achieve performance and density levels not possible with bipolar transistors.
[4]
In 1969,
Hitachi
introduced the first vertical
power MOSFET
,
[5]
which would later be known as the
VMOS
(V-groove MOSFET).
[6]
The power MOSFET has since become the most common
power device
in the world, due to its low gate drive power, fast switching speed,
[7]
easy advanced paralleling capability,
[7]
[8]
wide
bandwidth
, ruggedness, easy drive, simple biasing, ease of application, and ease of repair.
[8]
While HVDC is increasingly being used to transmit large quantities of electricity over long distances or to connect adjacent
asynchronous
power systems, the bulk of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and retailing takes place using alternating current.
Organization
[
edit
]
The electric power industry is commonly split up into four processes. These are
electricity generation
such as a
power station
,
electric power transmission
,
electricity distribution
and
electricity retailing
. In many countries, electric power companies own the whole infrastructure from generating stations to transmission and distribution infrastructure. For this reason, electric power is viewed as a
natural monopoly
. The industry is generally heavily
regulated
, often with
price controls
and is frequently
government-owned and operated
. However, the modern trend has been growing deregulation in at least the latter two processes.
[9]
The nature and state of market reform of the
electricity market
often determines whether electric companies are able to be involved in just some of these processes without having to own the entire infrastructure, or citizens choose which components of infrastructure to patronise. In countries where electricity provision is deregulated, end-users of electricity may opt for more costly
green electricity
.
Generation
[
edit
]
Generation is the conversion of some primary energy source into electric power suitable for commercial use on an electrical grid. Most commercial electric power is produced by rotating electrical machines, "
generators
", which move conductors through a magnetic field to produce electric current. The generator is rotated by some other prime mover machine; in typical grid-connected generators this is a steam turbine, a gas turbine, or a hydraulic turbine. Primary energy sources for these machine are often fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), nuclear fission, geothermal steam, or falling water. Renewable sources such as wind and solar energy are increasingly of commercial importance.
Since electrical generation must be closely matched with electrical consumption, enough generation capacity must be installed to meet peak demands. At the same time, primary energy sources must be selected to minimize the cost of produced electrical energy. Generally the lowest-incremental-cost source of electrical energy will be the next unit connected to meet rising demand. Electrical generators have automatic controls to regulate the power fed into the electrical transmission system, adjusting generator output moment by moment to balance with electrical demand. For a large grid with scores or hundreds of generators connected and thousands of loads, management of stable generator supply is a problem with significant challenges, to meet economic, environmental and reliability requirements. For example, low-incremental-cost generation sources such as nuclear power plants may be run continually to meet the average "
base load
" of the connected system, whereas more costly
peaking power plants
such as natural gas turbines may be run for brief times during the day to meet peak loads. Alternatively,
load management
strategies may encourage more even demand for electrical power and reduce costly peaks. Designated generator units for a particular electrical grid may be run at partial output only, to provide "spinning reserve" for sudden increases in demand or faults with other generating units.
In addition to electrical power production, electrical generation units may provide other
ancillary services
to the electrical grid, such as frequency control, reactive power, and
black start
of a collapsed power grid. These ancillary services may be commercially valuable when the generation, transmission, and distribution electrical companies are separate commercial entities.
Electric power transmission
[
edit
]
Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of
electrical energy
from a generating site, such as a
power plant
, to an
electrical substation
. The interconnected lines which facilitate this movement are known as a transmission network. This is distinct from the local wiring between high-voltage substations and customers, which is typically referred to as
electric power distribution
. The combined transmission and distribution network is known as the "
power grid
" in
North America
, or just "the grid". In the
United Kingdom
,
India
,
Malaysia
and
New Zealand
, the network is known as the National Grid.
A
wide area synchronous grid
, also known as an "interconnection" in North America, directly connects many generators delivering AC power with the same relative
frequency
numerous consumers. For example, there are four major interconnections in North America (the
Western Interconnection
, the
Eastern Interconnection
, the
Quebec Interconnection
and the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
(ERCOT) grid). In Europe
one large grid connects most of continental Europe
.
Historically, transmission and distribution lines were owned by the same company, but starting in the 1990s, many countries have
liberalized
the regulation of the
electricity market
in ways that have led to the separation of the electricity transmission business from the distribution business.
[11]
Electric power distribution
[
edit
]
Electric power distribution is the final stage in the
delivery
of
electric power
; it carries electricity from the
transmission system
to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission voltage to medium
voltage
ranging between 2
kV
and 35 kV with the use of
transformers
.
[12]
Primary
distribution lines carry this medium voltage power to
distribution transformers
located near the customer's premises. Distribution transformers again lower the voltage to the
utilization voltage
used by lighting, industrial equipment or household appliances. Often several customers are supplied from one transformer through
secondary
distribution lines. Commercial and residential customers are connected to the secondary distribution lines through
service drops
. Customers demanding a much larger amount of power may be connected directly to the primary distribution level or the
subtransmission
level.
[13]
Electric retailing
[
edit
]
Electricity retailing is the final sale of
electricity
from
generation
to the end-use consumer.
World electricity industries
[
edit
]
The organization of the electrical sector of a country or region varies depending on the economic system of the country. In some places, all electric power generation, transmission and distribution is provided by a government controlled organization. Other regions have private or investor-owned utility companies, city or municipally owned companies,
cooperative
companies owned by their own customers, or combinations. Generation, transmission and distribution may be offered by a single company, or different organizations may provide each of these portions of the system.
Not everyone has access to grid electricity. About 840 million people (mostly in Africa) had no access in 2017, down from 1.2 billion in 2010.
[14]
Market reform
[
edit
]
The
business model
behind the electric utility has changed over the years playing a vital role in shaping the electricity industry into what it is today; from generation, transmission, distribution, to the final local retailing. This has occurred prominently since the reform of the electricity supply industry in England and Wales in 1990.
United States
[
edit
]
In 1996 ? 1999 the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) made a series of decisions which were intended to open the U.S. wholesale power market to new players, with the hope that spurring competition would save consumers $4 to $5 billion per year and encourage technical innovation in the industry.
[15]
Steps were taken to give all market participants open access to existing interstate transmission lines.
- Order No. 888
ordered vertically integrated electric utilities to functionally separate their transmission, power generation and marketing businesses to prevent self-dealing.
[16]
- Order No. 889
set up a system to provide all participants with timely access to information about available transmission capacity and prices.
[17]
- The FERC also endorsed the concept of appointing independent system operators (ISOs) to manage the electric power grid ? a function that was traditionally the responsibility of vertically integrated electric utility companies.
[18]
The concept of an independent system operator evolved into that of
regional transmission organizations
(RTOs). FERC's intention was that all U.S. companies owning interstate electric transmission lines would place those facilities under the control of an RTO.
[19]
In its
Order No. 2000
(Regional Transmission Organizations)
, issued in 1999, FERC specified the minimum capabilities that an RTO should possess.
[20]
These decisions, which were intended to create a fully interconnected grid and an integrated national power market, resulted in the restructuring of the U.S. electricity industry. That process was soon dealt two setbacks: the
California energy crisis of 2000
, and the
Enron scandal and collapse
. Although industry restructuring proceeded, these events made clear that competitive markets could be manipulated and thus must be properly designed and monitored. Furthermore,
the Northeast blackout of 2003
highlighted the need for a dual focus on competitive pricing and strong reliability standards.
[21]
Other countries
[
edit
]
In some countries, wholesale electricity markets operate, with
generators
and
retailers
trading electricity in a similar manner to
shares
and
currency
. As
deregulation
continues further, utilities are driven to sell their
assets
as the energy market follows in line with the gas market in use of the
futures
and
spot markets
and other financial arrangements. Even
globalization
with foreign purchases are taking place. One such purchase was when the
UK's
National Grid
, the largest private electric utility in the world, bought several electric utilities in
New England
for $3.2 billion.
[22]
Between 1995 and 1997, seven of the 12 Regional Electric Companies (RECs) in England and Wales were bought by U.S. energy companies.
[23]
Domestically, local electric and gas firms have merged operations as they saw the advantages of joint affiliation, especially with the reduced cost of joint-metering. Technological advances will take place in the competitive wholesale electric markets, such examples already being utilized include fuel cells used in
space flight
; aeroderivative
gas turbines
used in
jet aircraft
; solar engineering and
photovoltaic
systems; off-shore wind farms; and the communication advances spawned by the digital world, particularly with microprocessing which aids in monitoring and dispatching.
[24]
Outlook
[
edit
]
Electricity is expected to see growing
demand
in the future. The
Information Revolution
is highly reliant on electric power. Other growth areas include emerging new electricity-exclusive technologies, developments in space conditioning,
industrial processes
, and
transportation
(for example
hybrid vehicles
,
locomotives
).
[24]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity
? 2. The Age of Invention
- ^
Thompson, M.T.
"Notes 01"
(PDF)
.
Introduction to Power Electronics
. Thompson Consulting, Inc.
- ^
Kharagpur.
"Power Semiconductor Devices"
(PDF)
.
EE IIT
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 20 September 2008
. Retrieved
25 March
2012
.
- ^
"Rethink Power Density with GaN"
.
Electronic Design
. 21 April 2017
. Retrieved
23 July
2019
.
- ^
Oxner, E. S. (1988).
Fet Technology and Application
.
CRC Press
. p. 18.
ISBN
9780824780500
.
- ^
"Advances in Discrete Semiconductors March On"
.
Power Electronics Technology
.
Informa
: 52?6. September 2005.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 22 March 2006
. Retrieved
31 July
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Power MOSFET Basics"
(PDF)
.
Alpha & Omega Semiconductor
. Retrieved
29 July
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Duncan, Ben (1996).
High Performance Audio Power Amplifiers
.
Elsevier
. pp.
178?81
.
ISBN
9780080508047
.
- ^
"The Bumpy Road to Energy Deregulation"
. EnPowered. 2016-03-28. Archived from
the original
on 2017-04-07
. Retrieved
2017-05-01
.
- ^
"Yearly electricity data"
.
ember-climate.org
. 6 Dec 2023
. Retrieved
23 Dec
2023
.
- ^
"A Primer on Electric Utilities, Deregulation, and Restructuring of U.S. Electricity Markets"
(PDF)
.
United States Department of Energy
Federal Energy Management Program
(FEMP). May 2002
. Retrieved
October 30,
2018
.
- ^
Short, T.A. (2014).
Electric Power Distribution Handbook
. Boca Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press. pp. 1?33.
ISBN
978-1-4665-9865-2
.
- ^
"How Power Grids Work"
.
HowStuffWorks
. Retrieved
2016-03-18
.
- ^
Closing Sub-Saharan Africa’s Electricity Access Gap: Why Cities Must Be Part of the Solution
- ^
Tomain, Joseph and Cudahy, Richard (2004).
Energy Law in a Nutshell
. Thomson-West Group. p. 277.
ISBN
9780314150585
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Tomain and Cudahy op cit
. pp. 276?277.
- ^
Tomain and Cudahy op cit
. p. 277.
- ^
Tomain, Joseph and Cudahy, Richard (2004).
Energy Law in a Nutshell
. Thomson ? West Group.
ISBN
9780314150585
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"Order No. 2000"
(PDF)
.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
. Retrieved
7 June
2021
.
- ^
"U.S. Energy Law: Electricity (About Regional Transmission Organizations)"
.
George Washington University Law Library
.
- ^
Tomain and Cudahy op cit
. pp. 285?297.
- ^
SEC filing dated March 15, 2000
- ^
"Electricity companies in the United Kingdom ? a brief chronology," Electricity Association, 30 June 2003
- ^
a
b
Borberly, A. and Kreider, J. F. (2001). Distributed Generation: The Power Paradigm for the New Millennium. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 400 pp.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- P. Strange, "Early Electricity Supply in Britain: Chesterfield and Godalming",
IEEE Proceedings
(1979).
- D. G. Tucker, "Hydro-Electricity for Public Supply in Britain",
Industrial Archaeology Review
, (1977).
- B. Bowers,
A History of Electric Light & Power
, Peregrinus (1982).
- T. P. Hughes,
Networks of Power
, Johns Hopkins Press London (1983).
- IRENA
,
INNOVATION LANDSCAPE FOR A RENEWABLE-POWERED FUTURE: SOLUTIONS TO INTEGRATE VARIABLE RENEWABLES
Archived
2021-01-24 at the
Wayback Machine
, (2019).
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