Louie's Space

Power Generation

How Power is Generated

Electricity is made or generated by electric companies in several ways:

Some companies have electric plants that use water to make electricity. These plants are said to be hydroelectric - "hydro" means "water". This is how it happens:

Electric plants that use water to make electricity are near moving water like rivers. Dams are built across rivers to form large lakes. People use the lakes for fishing and water sports.
Water that has been held back behind these dams is allowed to fall against the blades of a giant fan-like turbine.

The blades of the turbine turn because the water pushes them.
The turbine has a shaft or metal rod. The shaft is connected to a generator that has a coil of thick wire. The generator's wire coil spins around.
Inside the generator are big magnets. When the wire spins inside the magnets, it makes electricity flow through the thick wires.
Electricity flows through wires into a power transformer at the power plant. The strength of the electrical current is strong and it's made even stronger for its trip over transmission lines.