Definitions

This section contains the basic definitions of energy, power, efficiency, and load
factor, together with a listing of the most common units used.

Definition of energy

A correct but probably useless definition of energy:

Energy is the capacity to do work

(doing work is to move something against a resisting force)

Energy is involved where

• Objects move
• Heat is transported or transferred
• Electricity flows

The basic unit of energy is the joule: 1 J= 1 kg m2 s−2

This is usually used in 1 kJ= 1000 J; 1 MJ= 106 J; 1 GJ= 109 J and even higher
powers.

Other units often used are

• tonne of oil equivalent: 1 toe= 42 GJ or 1 Mtoe= 106 toe = 42 PJ= 42 ×106 J

• kilowatt-hour: 1 kWh= 3.60 MJ or 1 TWh= 3.60 PJ

Definition of power

The definition of power is

Power is the rate of doing work

In other words, power is the rate at which energy is converted, 'consumed', or

'generated

The basic unit of power is the watt: 1 W= 1 J/s= 1 kg m2 s-3

This is usually used in 1 kW= 1000 W; 1 MW= 106 W and higher powers.

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The first Law of Thermodynamics states that

Energy is conserved.

This means that it is possible to convert energy from one form to another but it is not
possible to create or destroy energy.

From the first law we can also state the following consequence:

Since power is the rate at which energy is converted, rate at which energy is
consumed by somebody has to be the same at which it is provided by
somebody else. In other words, the power generation has to match the power
consumption.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

A 'correct' statement of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the Kelvin-Planck

statement of it as:

It is impossible for any device that operates on a cycle to receive heat from a
single reservoir and produce a net amount of work.

This can also be paraphrased as

Whenever energy is converted from one form to another, heat is also

generated

or, we can never convert energy completely into motion or electricity but always
produce some heat which is lost to the user.

Efficiency

The fact that we can never get out the same amount of energy in the form of motion or
electricity as we feed into an energy converting device leads to the concept of
efficiency

Efficiency is defined as the ratio of the useful output over the required input.

What you get compared to what you pay

The symbol usually used for the efficiency is η (lower case Greek eta). Because it is a
ratio of two numbers with the same units, it is a dimensionless quantity.

This ratio is always less than one (or equals one in the very best ideal world). It is
often given in percentage rather than the ratio

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For example

• The typical efficiency of a steam turbine is about 30% (η=0.3).

• The typical efficiency of a petrol engine is about 25%
• The typical efficiency of a hydropower turbine is about 85%.

Types of energy

A list of different types of energy

Heat
Q= m Cp ∆T (or m CV ∆T ) = mass ´ specific heat ´ temperature difference

Potential energy
Ep= m g h = mass × gravitational acceleration × height.

Kinetic energy
Ek= 1/2 m v2 = half × mass × velocity squared.

Work
W= F d = force × distance

Pressure work
Wp= p V= pressure × Volume

This is the same as applying on an area A a pressure force, F= pA, and moving
it by a distance d. This will change the volume within the boundary by d A:
W= F d= p A d = p V

Electrical energy
Eel= V Q= volt × charge.

Radiation
energy of a photon: h λ,
with Planck's constant, h= 6.625× 10 − 34 J s, and the wavelength λ.

'Chemical' energy
The heat released in a chemical reaction. This is specific to each reaction and
is usually given as energy unit mass (e.g. kJ/kg) or number of molecules (e.g.
kJ/mol)

Atomic energy
E= m c2 = mass × speed of light squared, with c= 3 × 108 m/s

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A list of different types of power

Heat flow rate

dQ/dt= dm/dt Cp ∆T = mass flow rate × specific heat × temperature difference
dQ/dt= m CV dT/dt = mass × specific heat × rate of temperature change

Kinetic power
Pk= 1/2 ρ A v3 = half × density × cross-sectional area × velocity cubed.
This is the kinetic energy passing through an area A per unit time.

Linear mechanical power

P= F v = force × velocity
This is the rate of change of work, where the rate of change of distance is the
velocity.

Rotational mechanical power

P= ω T = angular × torque
The linear and rotational power can be related by recognising that an object
rotating at a distance R from the centre of rotation has a velocity of Rω, and
that a force applied a distance R from the centre exerts a torque of T= FR.

Hydraulic power
Ph= ρ g H Q = density × gravitational acceleration × height or 'head' × volume
flow rate.
This is the flow of energy of a liquid under pressure, p, passing through at a
flow rate, Q, if the pressure is given by the hydrostatic pressure, p = ρ g H.
The rate of change of the volume measures how much volume passes through
a measuring area: dV/dt= Q.
It is also the rate of release of potential energy from a liquid flowing from a
height H at a volume flow rate of Q.
(take the rate of change of the mass: dm/dt= ρQ

Electrical power
Eel= V I= volt × current.

Radiation of a black body

Eb= σT4
with the Stefan-Boltzmann constant σ = 5.67 ×10 − 8 W m−2 K4 and the
absolute temperature (in Kelvin)

Radiation of a grey body

Eg= ε σT4 with the emissivity ε (dimensionless)

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Capacity factor and load factor

Capacity factor or availability factor

the ratio of the energy output over a period to its maximum possible output.

Load factor
the ratio of the average load to peak load over a period.

These two factors are two sides of the same thing. The load factor measures the
proportion of power output required from a generator against what it could do, while
the capacity factor measures the proportion of the energy provided by the generator
against what it could do.

Example

A 70 MW turbine operating continuously would generate in a year 70 MW × 3600

sec/hr × 24 hr/day × 365 days/year= 2.2× 1015 J= 2.2 PJ. To convert to TWh or GWh:
2.2PJ= 2.2 PWs= 2200 TWs= 2200 TWh/3600= 0.61 TWh= 610 GWh.

In reality, no turbine can run at full load for ever. This is partly because the turbine
requires maintenance, partly because the demand is not there (and the production has
to be adjusted to meet the demand), and partly because the energy source is not
available (e.g. the wind in a wind turbine)

A typical availability factor for a well-maintained gas- or coal-fired power station can
be as high as 80%, but a typical hydropower station may only have a capacity factor
of about 40%. This can be explained by the fact that hyrdopower turbines can adjust
their output extremely fast, while thermal plant take much longer to change their
output. As a result, many thermal plants are operated to provide the relatively constant
base load while hydropower stations are used to follow the varying demand.

Following on the example of the 70MW turbine from above: If it has operated over
the last year with a capacity factor of 60%, then its total output during that year was
60% of the 610GWh, i.e. 0.6*610GWh= 370 GWh.

A typical wind turbine may have a capacity factor of about 30%. This number is not
constrained by it responding to the demand but by it driven by a fluctuating wind.
Even if the demand were always there, a 1MW wind turbine can never generate 1MW
all the time all year round. So, for a wind turbine (and almost all renewable
generators), the capacity factor is not limited by its most appropriate operating
conditions under the varying load but it is limited by the variability ('intermittency') of
the energy source.

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Annual energy output from different turbines, all rated at 100 MW

generator C (%) Annual output (TWh)

Ideal 100 11.3
coal 80 9.0
Hydro 40 4.5
Wind 30 3.4

This leads to the definition of capacity credit, which measures how much a generator
can replace a 'standard' thermal plant.

Example: A wind farm of 30 2MW turbines has an installed capacity of 60 MW but

because it only has a capacity factor of 30%, it can only replace about 20 MW
installed capacity from traditional thermal power stations. The 60MW-wind farm has
a capacity credit of 20MW.

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Powers of Ten

Powers of 10 and their names

power Symbol Prefix Name

103 k kilo- one thousand
106 M mega- one million
9
10 G giga- one billion
12
10 T tera- one trillion
1015 P peta- one quadrillion
1018 E exa- one quintillion

To illustrate the different powers, and when they are used, a few examples are given:

• A person's daily food requirement is about 10 MJ or 3 kWh

• A household's daily energy consumption is about 200 MJ or 60 kWh
• A household's annual energy consumption is about 100 GJ or 30 MWh
• A 600MW power station generates about 1 PJ or 3 TWh in a year.
• The UK's annual primary energy consumption is about 10 EJ or 3 PWh
• The world's annual primary energy consumption is about 500 EJ or 150 PWh.

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Conversion Tables

Very small energy amounts

kJ kcal
1 J 1 0.238
1 kcal 4.2 1

Small energy amounts

GJ kWh toe
1 GJ 1 277.8 0.024
1 kWh 0.0036 1 8.6×10-5
1 toe 42 12,000 1

Large energy amounts

PJ EJ TWh Mtoe
1 PJ 1 0.001 0.2778 0.024
1 EJ 1000 1 277.8 24
1 TWh 3.6 0.0036 1 0.086
1 Mtoe 42 0.042 12 1

Conversion between Power and Energy assuming a constant power over time

per hour per day per year per year per year
1 kW 3.6 MJ 86.4 MJ 31.54 GJ 8760 kWh 0.75 toe
1 MW 3.6 GJ 86.4 GJ 31.54 TJ 8.76 MWh 750 toe
1 GW 3.6 TJ 86.4 TJ 31.54 PJ 8.76 GWh 0.75 Mtoe
1 TW 3.6 PJ 86.4 PJ 31.54 EJ 8.76 TWh 750 Mtoe

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