Power Station was introduced in 1980s by supergroup of singer Robert palmer; bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor of Duran Duran; and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson. A power station is also referred to as a generating station, power plant, or powerhouse. It is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power plant is also used to refer to the engine in ships, aircraft and other large vehicles.
Some prefer to use the term energy center because it more accurately describes what the plants do, which is the conversion of other forms of energy, like chemical energy, gravitational potential energy or heat energy into electrical energy. At the center of nearly all power stations is an electrical generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor.
In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine which transforms thermal energy, often from combustion of a fuel, into rotational energy. Other power stations use the energy from wave or tidal motion, wind, sunlight or the energy of falling water, hydroelectricity. These types of energy sources are called renewable energy. A pumped storage hydroelectric power plant is a net consumer of energy but decreases the price of electricity. Water is pumped to a high reservoir during the night when the demand, and price, for electricity is low.
