Grid 101: Generation 3

How do we have stable, consistent power if the current fluctuates? AND Why do power lines have multiple wires?

The key to stable power comes from three phase electricity, or using three separate sets of wire conductors evenly spaced about the magnet. With this orientation, as one wire’s current reduces, others increase. The three separate sources means that we always get a stable source of electricity. This is also why we see multiple power lines running in parallel across our grid!

Through evenly spacing our conductive materials around the circular turbine, we can evenly distribute the generative power between the three coils. It is always the case that as the magnetic field of our rotating magnet starts to pull away from one conductive coil, it is approaching another coil more quickly and exciting those electrons. Having covered generation, we will now move to exploring how we transport this generated energy long distances. Notedly, these traditional sources are usually small in number: the common framework is a few power plants whose power is transmitted and then distributed to power most of the grid. In further posts we will explore how this system is complicated by disbursed, distributed energy resources like wind and solar generation.