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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Power Generation and Power Plants

Ramp up

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

phrasal verbCommon term

In energy & renewables, ramp up means: To increase the output of a power plant, or the level of an activity, steadily over a short time. The opposite is ramp down.

In Turkish: üretimi artırmak, yük almak, hızla artırmak

How it is used

Used in plant operation and in general business English (ramp up production, ramp up hiring). Engineers talk about the ramp rate, in MW per minute, which shows how fast a plant can change output. Gas turbines and batteries ramp quickly; coal and nuclear plants ramp slowly.

Example sentences

  1. Gas plants ramp up quickly as solar output falls in the evening.

  2. We can ramp the unit up from 200 to 400 MW in about 20 minutes.

Common collocations

  • ramp up output
  • ramp down
  • ramp rate
  • ramp up production
  • dispatchableDescribing a power source whose output can be started, raised or lowered on request, such as gas, reservoir hydro or batteries, unlike weather-dependent solar and wind.
  • gas turbineAn engine that burns gas, usually natural gas, and uses the hot expanding gases to spin a turbine connected to a generator. It can start and change output quickly.
  • loadThe amount of electrical power that consumers or a device draw from the system at a given moment, or the equipment that uses that power.
  • peak demandThe highest level of electricity demand in a given period, such as a day or a year, which the power system must be able to supply.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Power Generation and Power Plants

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