 (by the 

fission process) to create steam which then operates a steam turbine and generator.
About 20 percent of electric generation in the USA is produced by nuclear power plants.
 Geothermal power plants use steam extracted from hot underground rocks. These rocks are
heated by the decay of radioactive material in the Earth's crust.
 Biomass-fuelled power plants may be fuelled by waste from sugar cane, municipal solid
waste, landfill methane, or other forms of biomass.
 In integrated steel mills, blast furnace exhaust gas is a low-cost, although low-energy-
density, fuel.
 Waste heat from industrial processes is occasionally concentrated enough to use for power
generation, usually in a steam boiler and turbine.
 Solar thermal electric plants use sunlight to boil water and produce steam which turns the
generator.
By prime mover[edit]

 Steam turbine plants use the dynamic pressure generated by expanding steam to turn the
blades of a turbine. Almost all large non-hydro plants use this system. About 90 percent of all
electric power produced in the world is through use of steam turbines. [8]
 Gas turbine plants use the dynamic pressure from flowing gases (air and combustion
products) to directly operate the turbine. Natural-gas fuelled (and oil fueled) combustion turbine
plants can start rapidly and so are used to supply "peak" energy during periods of high demand,
though at higher cost than base-loaded plants. These may be comparatively small units, and
sometimes completely unmanned, being remotely operated. This type was pioneered by the
UK, Princetown[9] being the world's first, commissioned in 1959.
 Combined cycle plants have both a gas turbine fired by natural gas, and a steam boiler and
steam turbine which use the hot exhaust gas from the gas turbine to produce electricity. This
greatly increases the overall efficiency of the plant, and many new baseload power plants are
combined cycle plants fired by natural gas.
 Internal combustion reciprocating engines are used to provide power for isolated
communities and are frequently used for small cogeneration plants. Hospitals, office buildings,
industrial plants, and other critical facilities also use them to provide backup power in case of a
power outage. These are usually fuelled by diesel oil, heavy oil, natural gas, and landfill gas.
 Microturbines, Stirling engine and internal combustion reciprocating engines are low-cost
solutions for using opportunity fuels, such as landfill gas, digester gas from water treatment
plants and waste gas from oil production.
By duty[edit]
Power plants that can be dispatched (scheduled) to provide energy to a system include:

 Base load power plants run nearly continually to provide that component of system load that
doesn't vary during a day or week. Baseload plants can be highly optimized for low fuel cost, but
may not start or stop quickly during changes in system load. Examples of base-load plants
would include large modern coal-fired and nuclear generating stations, or hydro plants with a
predictable supply of water.
 Peaking power plants meet the daily peak load, which may only be for one or two hours each
day. While their incremental operating cost is always higher than base load plants, they are
required to ensure security of the system during load peaks. Peaking plants include simple cycle
gas turbines and reciprocating internal combustion engines, which can be started up rapidly
when system peaks are predicted. Hydroelectric plants may also be designed for peaking use.
 Load following power plants can economically follow the variations in the daily and weekly
load, at lower cost than peaking plants and with more flexibility than baseload plants.
Non-dispatchable plants include such sources as wind and solar energy; while their long-term
contribution to system energy supply is predictable, on a short-term (daily or hourly) base their
energy must be used as available since generation cannot be deferred. Contractual arrangements
("take or pay") with independent power producers or system interconnections to other networks may
be effectively non-dispatchable.

Cooling towers[edit]
Main article: Cooling tower

Cooling towers showing evaporating water at Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, United Kingdom

"Camouflaged" natural draft wet cooling tower

All thermal power plants produce waste heat energy as a byproduct of the useful electrical energy
produced. The amount of waste heat energy equals or exceeds the amount of energy converted into
useful electricity. Gas-fired power plants can achieve as much as 65 percent conversion efficiency,
while coal and oil plants achieve around 30 to 49 percent. The waste heat produces a temperature
rise in the atmosphere, which is small compared to that produced by greenhouse-gas emissions
from the same power plant. Natural draft wet cooling towers at many nuclear power plants and large
fossil fuel-fired power plants use large hyperboloid chimney-like structures (as seen in the image at
the right) that release the waste heat to the ambient atmosphere by the evaporation of water.
However, the mechanical induced-draft or forced-draft wet cooling towers in many large thermal
power plants, nuclear power plants, fossil-fired power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical
plants, geothermal, biomass and waste-to-energy plants use fans to provide air movement upward
through down coming water, and are not hyperboloid chimney-like structures. The induced or forced-
draft cooling towers are typically rectangular, box-like structures filled with a material that enhances
the mixing of the upflowing air and the down flowing water. [10][11]
In areas with restricted water use, a dry cooling tower or directly air-cooled radiators may be
necessary, since the cost or environmental consequences of obtaining make-up water for
evaporative cooling would be prohibitive. These coolers have lower efficiency and higher energy
consumption to drive fans, compared to a typical wet, evaporative cooling tower.