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Lambton Generating Station |
Fast and flexible
Fossil generation is electricity made by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. It is a reliable, flexible and cost-competitive source of power. Our fossil units are important in meeting customers' electricity needs because they can be started up quickly to match daily and seasonal increases in demand. Ontario Power Generation operates five fossil-fuelled generating plants. Four of these stations use coal and one is fuelled by oil and natural gas.
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How fossil works
Electricity is produced by spinning electromagnets inside a coil of wire in a generator to create a flow of electrons. In fossil-fuelled stations, the fossil fuel is burned to heat water, making steam that propels the turbines.
See how it works.
Hot, hot, hot
To create the steam, water is heated in boiler tubes around a large industrial furnace that burns coal, oil or natural gas, depending on the station. Once the water turns to steam, it moves at high speed to push a turbine's blades. The spinning shaft of the turbine is attached to a generator, producing electricity that can be sent across transmission lines to customers. The steam from the turbine is condensed back to water and reused in the boiler.
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Minimizing our environmental impact
OPG is one of the cleanest electricity suppliers in our market area, which includes Ontario and the U.S. mid-west and northeast. OPG has achieved significant reductions in the emissions produced by fossil-fuelled generation stations.
Please see our environment page to learn more about what OPG is doing to reduce emissions and other environment-related information. |
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