DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING.

ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLES 1-ASSIGNMENT

ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION

STUDENT NAME STUDENT NUMBER SIGNATURE

1.Dube N.M. P 21749832
2.Gumede S. P 21921898
3.Mabaso N. A 21837298
4.Ndlovu M 21958352

Lecturer’s Name Subject Name Assignment Title

R.A Stops Electrical Principles 1 Electrical Power Generation

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INTRODUCTION
Electricity is generated in various ways. They can be classified under non-renewable and
renewable. The generation include numerous types along with numerous processes (power
plants).After such process the power is distributed across a particular area ( i.e. country,
province, state etc ).This assignment is about electrical power generation, where we discuss
about the different forms of electricity generators and how they operate. We further discuss
about how south African electricity grid works and operate. It consists of 12 pages.

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TYPES OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION
Wave power: Ocean waves, produced by a combination of wind effects and spinning of the
earth, shows an enormous reservoir of natural energy.
Tidal power: is the conversion of the ocean’s tide which are the continuous flow of the
oceans water to electricity.
Solar power: The use of the sun’s radiation to produce energy.
Biomass power: generation of heat or electricity from a range of organic materials example
includes forestry product crops like miscanthus and agricultural by product like straw.
Diesel power plant: Is the plant where diesel engine is used as a mix diesel engine with an
electric generator to produce electrical energy by using diesel fuel.

DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES OF EACH ELECTRICITY GENARATION

MENTIONED ABOVE
Advantages of wave energy are:
-Wave energy is free it comes from waves of oceans.
-Wave energy is renewable.
-Wave energy does not generate pollution.
-The waves generated in the ocean is almost continuous so no need for power storage.
-For a generation of wave energy, no need for land.
Disadvantages of wave energy are:
-The distance between generation and load centre is more.
-Machines may cause harm to fishes.
-strong waves may destroy the device.
-Initial cost for installing machines may be costlier.
Advantages of Tidal power are:
-Tides are more known than wind and solar power
-doesn’t harm life
-Has the potential of providing 15 percent of the nation’s energy by 2030.
Disadvantages of Tidal power are:
-Can interfere with migration of sea life.
-Can affect local ecosystems
-Expensive.

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Advantages of solar power:
-It is free
-It is environmentally friendly
-It is uninterruptable
-It is renewable, clean and has no direct emissions.
Disadvantages of solar power:
-Weather dependant
-Uses a lot of space
-Associated with pollution
-Solar energy storage is expensive
Advantages of Biomass power:
-The energy source is renewable.
-It reduces the emission CO2 emission
-If waste is used, then this will cost less because waste can be found without any expenses
Disadvantages of Biomass power:
-The money used in building the biomass power plant factory is high
-If crops that rapidly grow are used it must compete with other agricultural actives for land. It
can therefore be an expensive fuel.
-Fast growing crops needs large scale area.
-Transport of fuel can be of high cost, even if it is free. Proximity of the fuel source is
therefore an important consideration in terms of siting.

Advantages of Diesel Power:

-Easy to design and install these electric stations
-Easily available in standard capacities
-Can respond to load changes without much difficulty
-Less standby losses
-Occupy less space
-Can be started and stopped quickly
-Require less cooling water
-Capital cost is less

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-Less operating and supervising staff required
-Efficiency at part loads is also higher
-Less of civil engineering work required
Disadvantages of Diesel Power:
-High operating cost
-High maintenance and lubrication
-Noise problem
-Cannot supply overload
-Unhygienic emissions

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ELECTRICITY CHARGES
The amount of cost of electricity on the supplier for the supply of electrical energy to
different types of consumers in known as an electricity tariff. In other words, the tariff are the
ways in which the consumer of charging is charged for consuming electric power. The tariff
includes the total cost of generating and supplying electric energy plus other necessary costs.
The amount customers pay, depends on the amount of energy they consume. The consumer
bill differs according to their requirements. The industrial consumers pay more tariff reason
being they use more power for long times than the domestic consumers. The electricity tariffs
are dependent on the following factors
-Type of load
-Time at which load is of need
-The power factor of the load
-The amount of energy consumed
FACTORS AFFECTING THE ELECTRICITY TARIFFS
The following factors are taken into consideration in deciding the electricity tariff:
-Types of Load- The load is primarily classified into three types, i.e., domestic, commercial,
or industrial. The industrial consumers use more energy for an extensive period than domestic
consumers, and thus the tariff for the industrial consumer is more than the domestic
consumers. The tariff of the electrical energy differs according to their needs.
-Maximum demand- The charge of the electrical energy supplied by a generating station can
be subjected to the installed capacity of the plant and kWh made. Increased in maximum
capacity increases the installed capacity of the generating stations.
-The period at which the load is needed- The period at which the maximum load required is
also important for the electricity cost. If the maximum demand overlaps with the maximum
demand of the consumer, then more plant is required. If the maximum demand of the
consumers takes place during off-peak hours, the load factor is enhanced, and no extra plant
capacity is needed. Thus, the overall charge per kWh generated is decreased.
-The power factor of the load- The power factor plays a main part in the plant economics.
The low power factor increases the load current increases the losses in the system. Hence, the
regulation becomes poor. For improving the power factor, the power factor correction
equipment is installed at the power station, and this results in the cost of the generation
increases.
-The amount of energy used- The charge of electrical energy is reduced by using large
amounts of energy for longer time.

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TYPES OF ELECTRICITY TARIFF
Some of the most significant types of tariff are as follows:
-Flat Demand Rate tariff
-Straight-line Meter rate tariff
-Block meter Rate tariff
-Two-part tariff
-Power factor tariff
-Seasonal rate tariff
-Peak load tariff
-Three-part tariff

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SOUTH AFRICA ELECTRICITY
In South the most commonly used commonly used energy source is coal. The company that
predominantly supplying South Africa with electricity is Eskom. The main different sources
of energy we have is here are coal; wind power; hydro power; nuclear power.

COAL IN SOUTH AFRICA AS POWER SOURCE

Eskom depends mostly on coal fired power stations compare to other alternative sources of
energy that we have to supply approximately 90% of its electricity. Luckily, we have excess
production of coal, but this becomes a problem since we use it intensively which in return
becomes a problem because coal is non-renewable. Most of Eskom’s coal fired stations are
found close to coal mines to make cost less. Our coal deposits are found in Eastern Cape,
Gauteng and in Northern Free State.

PROCESS:
Electricity production from coal begins when the coal is crushed in huge mills to fine powder
and put into a boiler. The coal inside in the boiler is heated and due to the heat incinerate. The
coal gives off heat which causes water to evaporate. The steam due to the boiler is used to
rotate blades of a huge fan called the turbine. The turbine rotates a copper wire made coil on
the magnet, which makes these makes the generator where electricity is produced.
ADVANTAGES BASED ON SA
 It is a renewable source
 South Africa is well supplied with coal
 Create job opportunities
DISADVANTAGES BASED ON SA
 Pollutes the environment through high carbon dioxide emission
 It is a non-renewable source and we are reliant on

HYDRO POWER ENERGY

Hydro energy generating is also of South Africa’s renewable alternative way of generating
electricity. This was implemented due to coal running short in South Africa as it is used
intensively. This is energy from moving water like waterfall, river, waves, rainfall etc. Our
first hydro pumped storage station was the Steenbras found in Cape Town. South Africa’s
water management supplying has changes it ways to of science to ensure the process is of
best results. To generate hydroelectricity South Africa has hydro power station and pumped
water storage schemes.

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PROCESS:
The water is stored in dams than passes through the turbine and generator and set before
being released back to the river down the tributary.

ADVANTAGES
 Carbon dioxide emission reduction
 Water is a renewable source
 Low cost
DISADVANTAGES
 South Africa’s climates change can stand as a threat

WIND POWER ENERGY

Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbine to provide electricity. The first large
scale wind operation in South Africa started in 2014. Two of our first largest wind supplies
are Darling and Keilhauer. South Africa has a couple of wind projects in the Western Cape
and Cape Town. There are allocated because of wind availability since this process depends
on wind.

PROCESS:
Wind electricity get generated through changing the kinetic energy of the wind to generate
electricity. Large turbines are used usually made of propellers. On top of a turbine is a box
known as nacelle and attached to a nacelle are three propellers like the blades that connect to
a rotor also on the nacelle is an anemometer to measure wind speed and direction. The wind
direction rotates the nacelle to face into the wind. The energy in the wind called the kinetic
energy turns the turbine blades around the rotor creating mechanical energy. The rotor
connects the main shaft which turns inside the generator. Here a magnetic rotor spins inside
loops of copper wire, this causes electron inside the copper to flow creating electrical energy.
ADVANTAGES BASED ON SA
 It a renewable source
 Less cost
 Less CO2 emission
DISADVANTAGES BASED ON SA
 The availability of wind can be scarce
 Noise pollution

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NUCLEAR POWER IN SOUTH AFRICA
Nuclear energy is using nuclear reactions to create electricity. South Africa is the only
country that consist of nuclear power plant in Africa. But there it has one nuclear power
station, the Koeberg in Western Cape. It was pretended that in 2008 that by 2025 Eskom
would have built 20GW of nuclear power. However, some believe that South Africa doesn’t
need extra source of energy like this as it will cost more for the country.

PROCESS
Nuclear power generation is the use of nuclear reaction to generate electricity. To produce
energy power station, need uranium. Heat is used to generate the steam that drives a steam
turbine connected to a generate that produces electricity.
ADVANTAGES
 Nuclear power does not cause air pollution
 Environmentally friendly
DISADVANTAGES
 South Africa is a developing country and can’t afford this source

GAS POWER ENERGY

South Africa also uses gas to produce electricity as an alternative source of energy. Here in
South Africa was implemented because it was a power source that cost less. Our gas power
stations are found in Eastern Cape, KZN, Western Cape.

PROCESS:
Natural gas is burnt to produce pressurised gas which spin the blades of the turbine which is
connected to a generator inside the generator magnet spins causing electrons in the wire to
flow from one to another which creates an electrical current which generates electricity.
ADVANGES
 It a natural source
 Less cost
DISADVANTAGES
 Air pollution
 Gas production is limited

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ELECTRICTY GRID
Our grid was built and run by Eskom. The electrical grid the network to which the electrical
power is transmitted, generated and distributed to consumers. The electric grid is broadly
made of generation, transmission or distribution, and consumption. There are several key
pieces of infrastructure that are built to support the delivery of electricity it is comprised of
this components, generation plants where electricity is produced, transmission lines
infrastructure that allows electricity to be transported over long distance, substations where
electricity voltage is increased or decreased, transformer the mechanism that decreases or
increases electricity voltage, distribution lines which are similar to transmission lines but only
for lower voltage electricity. The grid was created to solve a problem of geographic
separation between electricity production and consumption, since electricity is often
produced far from the consumer.
Here Eskom operates close to 400000 km off the transmission lines and they’ll stretch almost
ten times around the globe. To maintain the lines, it requires special people and equipment
and Eskom was the first utility in the world to engineer these 756 kV lines for high altitude.
The cycle goes from power station, sub-station, transformer line than to distribution lines
where it is transported to Eskom’s customer. The entire system is known as the national grid.
The nerve centre of the grid is Eskom’s national control centre Germiston. This is where the
operation occurs when there is a need of adjusting the input in power stations

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