How do power plants “know” the exact amount of energy that is in demand at a current moment by the millions of consumers within its distribution network since they must produce near this amount of energy (either too much or too little energy being pumped into the grid in comparison to the energy demand has negative consequences, if I understand correctly?)
Is there some sort of signaling system that can tell how much power is being drawn at a exact moment or will be drawn one second/minute into the future?
What happens if too much energy is produced at a current moment compared to the demand?
In: 12
We use an AC system which runs at a specific frequency. This AC is connected to the magnets of the generator at the power plant which makes it rotate at the same frequency. Whenever you start using power in your home the increased current will cause the generator to slow down. However the turbine have a lot of mass so you need to use a lot of energy to reduce its speed. And this cause the frequency of the power grid to slowly go down as the turbine loses energy. The power plant operators notice this drop in frequency and open valves to make the turbines go faster again.
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