Electric stations are the most important partlife of each person, as they transform the energy of natural resources into electricity. One station is a whole complex of measures, artificial and natural subsystems that serve to transform and distribute all types of energy sources. The whole process can be divided into several stages:
Electric power industry includes productionenergy at the station and its subsequent delivery through power lines. The most important elements of this chain, such as power plants, differ in the type of primary sources that are available in the region.
Let us consider some types of transformative processes in more detail, as well as the merits and demerits of each of them.
Advantages | disadvantages |
Low cost of consumed fuel | High degree of environmental pollution |
Relatively small capex | Significant operating costs for plants |
Free accommodation. Do not have a binding to any particular area | |
Low cost of energy | |
Small area of accommodation |
Hydropower plants (HPPs) use water resources as a primary energy source, for example, reservoirs and rivers. Advantages and disadvantages of HPPs are also summarized in the table.
Advantages | disadvantages |
No extraction and transportation of the resource is required | Alienation of fertile lands. Dampness |
Ecological compatibility | Violation of aquatic ecosystems |
Regulation of water flow | Large accommodation areas |
High reliability | |
Easy maintenance | |
Low cost | |
Possible additional use of natural resources |
Nuclear power plants (NPPs) - a set of plantsand activities designed to convert the energy that is released as a result of the fission of atomic nuclei, into thermal, and then into electrical energy. The most important element of this system is a nuclear reactor, as well as a set of associated devices. The table below shows the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plants.
Advantages | disadvantages |
Low amount of harmful emissions | Irradiation hazard |
Low fuel consumption | There is no possibility to regulate the output power |
High output power | Low probability of an accident, but very severe consequences of the world scale |
Low cost of energy | Significant capital investments |
Transportation is an equally important stagefuel resources to the power plant. This process can be carried out in several ways, each of which has its own merits and demerits. Consider the main methods of transportation: