How electricity is generated

In 1831, scientist Michael Faraday discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a
coil of wire, an electric current flows in the wire. An electricity generator is a device that
converts a form of energy into electricity. Generators operate because of the
relationship between magnetism and electricity. Generators that convert kinetic
(mechanical) energy into electrical energy produce nearly all of the electricity that
consumers use.

A common method of producing electricity is from generators with an electromagnet—a

magnet produced by electricity—not a traditional magnet. The generator has a series of
insulated coils of wire that form a stationary cylinder. This cylinder surrounds a rotary
electromagnetic shaft. When the electromagnetic shaft rotates, it induces a small
electric current in each section of the wire coil. Each section of the wire coil becomes a
small, separate electric conductor. The small currents of the individual sections combine
to form one large current. This current is the electricity that moves through power lines
from generators to consumers.

Electric generator

Source: Adapted from Energy for Keeps (public domain)

Most of U.S. electricity generation is from electric power plants that use a turbine or
similar machine to drive electricity generators.

A turbine converts the potential and kinetic energy of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) to
mechanical energy. In a turbine generator, a moving fluid—such as water, steam,
combustion gases, or air—pushes a series of blades mounted on a shaft, which rotates
 the shaft connected to a generator. The generator, in turn, converts the mechanical
energy to electrical energy based on the relationship between magnetism and
electricity.

Different types of turbines include steam turbines, combustion (gas) turbines, water
(hydroelectric) turbines, and wind turbines. In steam turbines, hot water and steam are
produced by burning a fuel in a boiler or by using a heat exchanger to capture heat from
a fluid heated with, for example, solar or geothermal energy. The steam drives a
turbine, which powers a generator. The fuels or energy sources used for steam turbines
include biomass, coal, geothermal energy, petroleum fuels, natural gas, nuclear energy,
and solar thermal energy. Most of the largest electric power plants in the United States
have steam turbines.

Combustion gas turbines, which are similar to jet engines, burn gaseous or liquid fuels
to produce hot gases to turn the blades in the turbine.

Internal combustion engines, such as diesel engines, are also used to produce
mechanical energy to operate electricity generators. Diesel-engine generators are used
in many remote villages in Alaska and are widely used for power supply at construction
sites and for emergency or backup power supply for buildings and power plants. Diesel-
engine generators can use a variety of fuels including petroleum diesel, biodiesel,
natural gas, biogas, and propane. Small internal combustion engine generators fueled
with gasoline, natural gas, or propane are commonly used by construction crews and
tradespeople and for emergency power supply for homes.

Combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants, sometimes called cogenerators, use the heat

that is not directly converted to electricity in a steam turbine, combustion turbine, or an
internal combustion engine generator for other purposes, such as space heating or
industrial process heat. Some power plants use the unused heat or combustion gases
from one turbine, such as a gas turbine, to generate more electricity in another turbine,
such as a steam turbine. This system of two separate generators using a single fuel
source is called a combined cycle. CHP and combined-cycle power plants are some of
the most efficient ways to convert a fuel into useful energy.

Hydroelectric turbines use water to spin turbine blades, and wind turbines use the wind.

Electricity generators that do not use turbines include solar photovoltaic cells, which
convert sunlight directly into electricity, and fuel cells, which convert fuels, such as
hydrogen, into electricity through a chemical process.

 The share of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2018 by major

types of electricity generators