A partial temporary reduction in system voltage. In most cases, brownouts are deliberately produced by energy providers as an emergency measure to prevent the system from failing completely (blacking out). Typically a utility will decrease system voltage by 10-25%, usually for a short period of time
The amount of energy in kilowatt hours that was produced in a year divided by the amount of energy in kilowatt hours that would have been produced in a year had the production unit been operated at its rated capacity the entire year.
A meter that can read the flow of electricity in both directions (such as electricity bought from the grid as well as surplus electricity generated and transmitted to the grid)
A common type of light water reactor (LWR), where water is allowed to boil in the core thus generating steam directly in the reactor vessel.
Complete interruption of power in a given service area
Certain generators have the ability to black start, meaning they can restart their generation plant with no electrical input if the system has blacked out. Generators without this capability require power from the grid to restart their generating plant
A power station devoted to the production of baseload supply of electricity. Baseload plants are the production facilities used to meet all or some of a given region’s / country’s continuous energy demand, and produces energy at a constant rate, usually at the lowest end of the price scale relative to other production facilities available to the system. In Israel the coal power stations work as baseload power stations
A base load generation unit is one that provides a steady flow of power regardless of total power demand by the grid. This unit runs all seasons except during the time when repairs or scheduled maintenance occur. Base-load plants usually run on low-cost fuels such as coal and are massive enough to provide a majority of the power used by a grid. Therefore, these plants have high capital costs to build but low operating costs to run. In contrast, peak-load units (also known as peakers) are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity. The time a peaker operates may be several hours a day to as little as a few hours per year. If a peaker is only going to be run for a short and variable time, it does not make economic sense to make it as efficient as a base-load power plant. Therefore, peak-load systems tend to have low capital costs (so it is OK if it lying idle for most of the year) but high operating costs (but then, you don’t run it that often).
The revenue requirement of a utility divided by the utility’s sales. Average cost typically includes the costs of existing power plants, transmission, and distribution lines, and other facilities used by a utility to serve its customers. It also included operating and maintenance, tax, and fuel expenses.
