Introduction
The electric utility industry uses three-phase AC synchronous generators to produce electric power
An example is AEP’s Gavin plant in Cheshire, Ohio (on the Ohio River about 40 mi. SE of Athens, Ohio)
Gavin employs two 1,300 MW three-phase synchronous generators (about 3.5 Mhp total) » 160 ´ OU’s (Athens campus) 1997 peak load (nearly 16 MW (about 21.4 Khp) from 2:30p.m.-3:00p.m. on 10/9/97)
Synchronous machines are so-named because they (essentially) rotate at a constant speed and so operate at constant frequency