The Efficient Alternative To Large Power Stations

68 THE EFFICIENT ALTERNATIVE TO LARGE POWER STATIONS by Dave Andrews Decentralizing electricity generation, but maintaining a grid system with a much larger number of small power stations, is an idea gaining favour with many engineers. Installations in industrial premises can generate enough power for local needs and in off-peak periods feed power into the grid system for other users. Moreover, such stations are already developed and on the market, and their efficiency ratings are impressive. EE In most of the industrialized world, generating power on a large scale has fol- lowed a trend away from large numbers of very small power stations to small numbers of very large ones. The reasons have been that coal-fired steam cycle stations showed impressive economies of scale, for large power stations could be made more efficient: developments in high-voltage transmission meant that the large stations could be built out in the country, where land was cheap and pollution was not so notic...