A power plant or a power generating station, is basically an industrial location that is utilized for the generation and distribution of electric power on a mass scale, usually in the order of several 1000 Watts. These are generally located in the sub-urban regions or several kilometers away from the cities or the load centers, because of their requisites like huge land and water demand, along with several operating constraints like waste disposal, etc.
For this reason, a power generating station has to not only take care of efficient generation but also the fact that the power is transmitted efficiently over the entire distance and that’s why the transformer switchyard to regulate transmission voltage also becomes an integral part of the power plant.
At the center of it, however, nearly all power generating stations have an AC generator or an alternator, which is basically a rotating machine that is equipped to convert energy from the mechanical domain (rotating turbine) into the electrical domain by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and the conductors. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator shaft varies widely and is chiefly dependent on the type of fuel used.
Types of Power Station :
Thermal Power Station, Nuclear Power Station, Hydro-Electric Power Station