Power generation is not rocket science

Power Generation, an age old problem in Nigeria, seemingly defying all the odds, along with the ‘prayer and fasting’ of Well seasoned professors and their congregations. But is it really a difficult thing, to generate power? “Mega Watts”, in and out of governments, yet, homes remain dark, at night. Electricity.

For all those out there, who do not understand all the “long grammar” about power generation, this post is for you.

A light bulb. For It to light up, it requires the supply of an electric current, through a cable/wire, from an electrical/power source, to the terminals of the bulb. The intensity to which the bulb glows, its size, or the energy it consumes, depends on its ‘current draw/demand’. Take a battery, for instance, connected to a small light bulb, via a wire, the bulb lights up, as long as the battery delivers current to it. As the battery gets weaker, the bulb starts to die out or get dim.

Example; there is a demand for a medical doctor, in London, but the doctor lives in Lagos. The doctor boards a vehicle – an airplane (Voltage), heads via the atmosphere – the conductor (wire/cable), to deliver his service – current, to where it is demanded. He delivers his service, over a period of time – Energy, and thus gets paid on that basis.

Keep that in mind – CURRENT, VOLTAGE, CONDUCTOR AND ENERGY.

For current to be supplied, to a point of demand, it has to be transported via an electrical conductor. A good electrical conductor is one with the least resistance. Imagine travelling from Lagos to London, the best path to follow, obviously, is the most efficient one, the one that can deliver you, from your point of origin, to your destination, safely and comfortably. Imagine having the option, of either, travelling by sea or by air, you will readily choose Air travel. Same with electricity, the best conductor is used. However, every conductor, has it’s inherent resistance to the current being delivered.

Now, when current is transported, it’s propellant or fuel for transport is called voltage. So, to supply current, to a point of demand, you need voltage, to conquer the resistance, inherent in the conductor, being used to transport that electric current.

Current delivered, from point A to B, is equal to the Voltage supplied, across a wire/cable of known resistance. The resistance in the conductor, retards the Voltage, as it travels along the conductor; wire/cable, to deliver its current.

We have mentioned 3 important things; Current draw/demand, Voltage and Resistance (Conductor).

Now, like the plane you board to travel to London, it continuously burns fuel, to keep its engine running, in order to deliver you to your destination. Also, the vehicle required to transport the needed current – Voltage, is continuously, with the passage of time, supplied. You need a voltage generator or in this instance, a Power generator, to generate the Voltage required, to deliver the continuous current demanded, to keep your light bulb, continuously illuminated. The word “continuous” here, connotes time. If you instantaneously generate voltage and supply current to a light bulb, that bulb will light up, in that second and go dead in the next. So to keep the lights on continuously, you need to continuously generate voltage across the conductor, to supply the needed current. This continuous generation of Voltage to deliver current, over time, is called Energy. While, the delivery/supply of current, to where it is demanded, by the voltage, is called Power.

Power is measured in watts. 1000 watts is called 1 Kilowatt and 1,000,000 watts is also called 1 Megawatt. Meaning 1 MW = 1000 KW. Anything under 1000KW is usually denoted in KVA.

Energy, however, because it is power delivered continuously, over the passage of time, it is measured in Kilowatt hours (KWh).

Take a break ….. breathe….Okay.

Voltage, Current draw or demand, Resistance, conductor, Power and Energy. All these terms work into the lighting up of the bulb in your house.

Imagine all the bulbs, Tv’s, Fridges, Air conditioners, laptops, servers, water pumps, etc that require power in urban homes. The energy supply, to meet the current demand, in a regular urban home, filled with all these devices, will be quite high.

So how do you generate enough power to feed this appetite?

Power generation is done using magnets. Yes, magnets. When you put two magnets of the same polarity together, they repel. That energy, used to force the magnets apart is referred to as magnetic energy. However, it has also being found that when you pass an electric current through some certain types of metal alloys (a hybrid of two or more metals), they become magnetized. Those types of magnetized alloys, also generate an electrical current through electromagnetism, when brought into continuous close contact and excited, that can be extracted and delivered elsewhere, a place of current demand – the bulb.

To keep the magnets in close contact, something called a Turbine is built, surrounded by wires, called “coils”, to extract the current generated, as the magnets pass over each other.

For the magnets to be in continuous motion, over each other, to generate continuous voltage and current, they require energy, either via a mechanical engine – internal combustion engine, or another source of kinetic energy – energy of/in motion. So think about anything that naturally moves….a river or waterfall, wind, etc. All these can be used to drive the motion required for the magnets.

This article was first published on medium. Continue reading…