Power plants and the grid
Behind every socket is a system of large and small power plants. This section explains the big picture in plain language: how thermal power stations turn fuel into electricity, how their exhaust is cleaned, what Europe's power mix looks like and how home batteries are starting to act as power plants themselves.
4 pages
In this section
Europe’s electricity mix: wind and solar overtake fossil
Where Europe’s electricity comes from: in 2025 wind and solar produced more than fossil fuels in the EU for the first time. Sources, country differences and data.
Flue gas cleaning explained: dust, SO2, NOx and mercury
How power plants remove dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury from their exhaust, and how EU best available techniques set the limits.
How thermal power plants work: boiler, turbine, generator
How coal, gas, biomass and nuclear plants turn heat into electricity, what efficiency means, and why combined cycle and combined heat and power do better.
Virtual power plants: how home batteries join the grid
What a virtual power plant is, how aggregators pool home batteries, cars and heat pumps, which grid services they provide and what owners should check.
Other sections
Plug-in solar
How balcony and plug-in solar kits work, what the 800 W limit really means, how to mount them and how to work out whether one pays off for you.
Batteries and home storage
When a battery makes sense next to plug-in solar, how the systems differ, how zero export with a smart meter reader works and how big a home battery should be.
Backup power
Portable power stations compared on their data sheets, and what really keeps the lights, the fridge and the router running during a power cut.
Plug-in solar rules by country
Registration, power limits, plugs and landlord rules for plug-in solar across Europe, from Germany and the newly opened UK market to France, Benelux and the south.
Tariffs and self-consumption
How dynamic electricity tariffs work with a battery, and whether exporting solar power or using it yourself pays more.