Combined-cycle power plant

A power plant that generates electricity with gas turbines and uses their hot exhaust to produce steam for additional power from a steam turbine.

Gas turbine: A rotary engine that burns fuel to drive a compressor and turbine, producing shaft power and hot exhaust. Its exhaust supplies the heat that distinguishes combined-cycle generation.
Gas turbine power plant: A power plant that generates electricity using one or more gas turbines. A combined-cycle plant adds a heat-recovery steam stage to this plant type.
Natural gas: A gaseous fossil fuel composed mainly of methane. It is the most common fuel for combined-cycle plants.
Simple-cycle gas turbine: A gas-turbine power plant that exhausts hot gases without using their heat in a second power cycle. It is simpler and often faster to start, but wastes heat that a combined-cycle plant recovers.
Carbon dioxide emissions: Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by natural processes and human activities. Fuel combustion remains a major source of emissions even when heat recovery improves efficiency.
Heat recovery steam generator: A boiler that captures heat from a hot gas stream to produce steam, often through multiple pressure stages. It transfers gas-turbine exhaust heat into steam for the second power cycle.
Electrical generator: A machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction. Generators convert shaft power from both turbine stages into electricity.
Peak-load power plant: A power plant operated mainly during periods of high electricity demand. Combined-cycle units are generally less suited to rapid peak response than simple-cycle gas turbines.
Coal-fired power station: A power plant that burns coal to produce steam for a turbine generator. It provides a steam-cycle comparison with different fuel, emissions, and operating characteristics.
Methane leakage: The unintended release of methane during the production, processing, and transport of natural gas. Upstream leakage can increase the climate impact of gas-fired electricity.

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