Researched
AC Power & Large Power Plants
The Niagara power station and high voltage: electricity can be sent tens of kilometres away.
Open in the interactive tree →In 1895 a hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls with Westinghouse generators and Tesla's polyphase alternating current went online and from 1896 supplied Buffalo, about 40 kilometres away. Transformers and high-voltage lines separated the place of generation from the place of use. From this principle grew today's interconnected grid, and it is the basis for harvesting sun and wind far from where the power is used.
Prerequisites
- Water Wheel~250 BC
- Electrification1882
- Hydroelectric Power1882Niagara's hydro plant was the first large AC power plant
- Transformer1885AC grids depend on transformers to step voltage up and down
- AC Induction Motor1888Polyphase AC systems were built around the induction motor
Unlocks
More in Energy · Industrial Age
- Wood, Charcoal & Coal~1709
- Steam Engine1712
- Voltaic Pile (First Battery)1800
- Water Turbine1827
- Dynamo & Electric Motor1831-1866
- Fuel Cell1839
- Oil & Natural Gas1859
- Rechargeable Battery1859