A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Availability: Unit of measure for the actual time a power generating unit is capable of providing service, if needed.
Average annual energy: The total energy generated annually by a power station, on average over a period of time of full operation or since the start of full operation, measured in gigawatt-hours (GWh).
Capacity (electric): The maximum volume of power that can be produced or delivered under specified conditions by a generator or system, measured on an instantaneous basis, usually expressed in megawatts.
Capacity factor: Ratio of average generation to the capacity rating of an electric generating unit for a specific period, expressed as a percentage.
Connection: The physical junction (e.g., transmission lines, transformers, switch gear, etc.) between two electric systems permitting the transfer of electric energy.
Demand (electric): The rate at which electric energy is delivered to or by a system at a given instant or on average over a designated period, usually expressed in kilowatts or megawatts.
Distributed generation: Electricity generating capacity which is located close to the customers it serves.
Distribution (electrical): The system of lines, transformers and switches that connect the transmission network and customer load. The circulation of electricity to ultimate use points such as homes and businesses.
Environmental Assessment (EA): A professional assessment of a power generation project’s potential impacts on the local environment, following guidelines set out in provincial and federal government regulations.
Energy Purchase Agreement (EPA): A long-term off-take contract from a large customer to buy the electricity generated by a power plant; it governs the terms of supply and purchase price. This term is often used interchangeably with Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Generation: The process of producing electric energy by transforming or connecting other forms of energy such as blowing wind, shining sunlight or falling water.
Generating capacity: The maximum power that a power plant, such as a hydroelectric dam, can produce under specific conditions.
Gigawatt (GW): One billion watts, or one million kilowatts.
Gigawatt-hour (GWh): One million kilowatt-hours.
Green power: Electricity generation considered to be less intrusive environmentally than traditional generation. Green power sources include wind, water, landfill gas, solar, and others.
Greenfield development: Development of a new power generating facility.
Grid: A synchronized transmission network that delivers electricity from generating stations to local distributors and other large users at high voltage.
Hydraulic capacity: The maximum amount of water that can go through the powerhouse at a project.
Independent Power Producer (IPP): A company that produces electric power, other than an electricity utility. Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. is an IPP.
Installed capacity: The measure of a power station’s electric generating capacity at full production, usually measured in megawatts (MW).
Intake: The entrance to a turbine unit at a hydroelectric dam.
Kilowatt (kW): A unit of electrical power equal to one thousand watts.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh): The amount of electricity a power plant generates or a customer uses over a period of time is measured in kilowatt-hours, unit of electrical energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power used for one hour. One kilowatt-hour is equal to 1,000 watt-hours, equivalent to the energy consumed by a 100-watt light bulb burning for 10 hours. An average household will use 800 to 1300 kWh per month depending upon geographical area.
Megawatt (MW): A unit of electrical production capacity. One million watts or one thousand kilowatts.
Megawatt-hour (MWh): One million watt-hours of electric energy. A unit of electrical energy which equals one megawatt of power used for one hour.
Penstock: The pipe leading from the water intake to the hydraulic turbine.
Power: A term usually meant to imply both capacity and energy.
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA): A long-term off-take contract from a large customer to buy the electricity generated by a power plant; it governs the terms of supply and purchase price. This term is often used interchangeably with Energy Purchase Agreement (EPA).
Powerhouse: That part of a hydroelectric dam where the turbine-generators are housed and where power is produced by the action of the water on the turbine blades.
Renewable resource: A power source that is continuously or cyclically renewed by nature, i.e. solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass or similar sources of energy.
Run-of-the-river: Run-of-River projects generate power by diverting a portion of a river’s flow into an intake, and conveying it along a pipeline to a powerhouse where turbines attached to generators turn it into electricity. All diverted water is immediately returned to the river via a tailrace.
Storage dam: A dam with a large reservoir that can hold water over from the annual high-water season to the following low-water season. Major storage dams in British Columbia include: W. A. C. Bennett Dam, Williston Lake; Kenney Dam, Cheslatta Lake; Mica Dam, Kinbasket Lake; Keenleyside Dam, Arrow Lakes; Stave Falls Dam, Stave Lake.
Tailrace: The canal or channel that carries water away from the dam.
Tailwater: The water surface immediately downstream from the outlet of the powerhouse
Terawatt hours (TWh): One thousand Gigawatt hours.
Transmission: The network of high voltage wires, transformers and switches used to move electrical power from generators to the distribution system. Also utilized to interconnect utility systems and independent power producers together into a synchronized network. Transmission is considered to end when the energy is transformed for distribution to the consumer.
Transmission grid: An interconnected system of electric transmission lines and associated equipment for the transfer of electric energy between points of supply and points of demand.
Turbine: A machine for generating rotary mechanical power from the energy of a stream of fuel (such as wind, water, natural gas or steam), converting the kinetic energy of the fuel to mechanical energy; rotary turbines drive generators to produce electricity.
Watt: A scientific unit of measurement of electrical power used to describe the rate of energy consumption of an electrical appliance. One watt is the power equal to one joule of energy per second; 750 watts is equivalent to one horsepower. Watts equal voltage times amperage.
Watt-hour: The basic unit of measurement for consumption of electric energy; equal to the wattage multiplied by the time in hours; the quantity of electrical energy used or produced when one watt is used for one hour.