A power station , also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant , is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power . Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid .
120-481: Kraftwerk ( German pronunciation: [ˈkʁaftvɛʁk] , lit. ' power plant ' ) are a German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider . Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music , Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in
240-605: A 236-page hardback book. The album was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Surround Sound Album at the ceremony that took place on 28 January 2018, winning the former, which became the band's first Grammy win. On 20 July 2018, at a concert in Stuttgart, German astronaut Alexander Gerst performed "Spacelab" with the band while aboard the International Space Station , joining via
360-580: A circuit that triggers analog synthetic percussion sounds. The band first performed in public with this device in 1973, on the television program Aspekte (on the all-German channel Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ), where it was played by Wolfgang Flür. They created drum machines for Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express . On the Radio-Activity tour in 1976 Kraftwerk tested out an experimental light-beam-activated drum cage allowing Flür to trigger electronic percussion through arm and hand movements. Unfortunately,
480-526: A common frequency, were developed. The same generating plant that fed large industrial loads during the day, could feed commuter railway systems during rush hour and then serve lighting load in the evening, thus improving the system load factor and reducing the cost of electrical energy overall. Many exceptions existed, generating stations were dedicated to power or light by the choice of frequency, and rotating frequency changers and rotating converters were particularly common to feed electric railway systems from
600-446: A complex music instrument, as well as a sound laboratory; Florian Schneider in particular developed a fascination with music technology, with the result that the technical aspects of sound generation and recording gradually became his main fields of activity within the band. Alexei Monroe called Kraftwerk the "first successful artists to incorporate representations of industrial sounds into non-academic electronic music". Kraftwerk used
720-526: A conference center) was handpicked by Ralf Hütter, for its retro-futuristic UFO-like architecture. Bespoke visuals of the building, with the saucer section descending from space, were displayed during the rendition of Spacelab. In 2014, Kraftwerk brought their four-night, 3D Catalogue tour to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and at NYC's United Palace Theatre . They also played at
840-600: A custom-built vocoder on their albums Ralf und Florian and Autobahn ; the device was constructed by engineers P. Leunig and K. Obermayer of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig. Hütter and Schneider received a patent for an electronic drum kit with sensor pads, filed in July 1975 and issued in June 1977. It must be hit with metal sticks, which are connected to the device to complete
960-401: A digital compilation album . It includes remixed tracks taken from singles released 1991, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2007, plus the previously unreleased "Non Stop", a version of " Musique Non-Stop " used as a jingle by MTV Europe beginning in 1993. The cover re-uses the cover from " Expo Remix ". The compilation was released on CD and vinyl in 2022. On 30 October 2021, Kraftwerk were inducted into
1080-560: A famous appearance at the dance festival Tribal Gathering held in England. In 1998, the group toured the US and Japan for the first time since 1981, along with shows in Brazil and Argentina . Three new songs were performed during this period and a further two tested in soundchecks, which remain unreleased. Following this trek, the group decided to take another break. In July 1999 the single "Tour de France"
1200-442: A half-dozen other musicians during the preparations for and the recording of three albums and sporadic live appearances, including guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger , who left to form Neu! . The only constant figure in these line-ups was Schneider, whose main instrument at the time was the flute; at times he also played the violin and guitar, all processed through a varied array of electronic devices. Hütter, who left
1320-425: A hydroelectric power station water flows through turbines using hydropower to generate hydroelectricity . Power is captured from the gravitational force of water falling through penstocks to water turbines connected to generators . The amount of power available is a combination of height and water flow. A wide range of Dams may be built to raise the water level, and create a lake for storing water . Hydropower
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#17328560925741440-504: A live video link. Gerst played melodies using a tablet as his instrument alongside Hütter as a duet, and delivered a short message to the audience. On 20 July 2019, Kraftwerk headlined the Saturday night lineup on the Lovell Stage at Bluedot Festival , a music and science festival held annually at Jodrell Bank Observatory , Cheshire, UK. The 2019 festival celebrated the 50th anniversary of
1560-634: A look at those albums. They've always been available, but as really bad bootlegs . Now we have more artwork. Emil has researched extra contemporary drawings, graphics, and photographs to go with each album, collections of paintings that we worked with, and drawings that Florian and I did. We took a lot of Polaroids in those days." Kraftwerk also released an iOS app called Kraftwerk Kling Klang Machine. The Lenbach House in Munich exhibited some Kraftwerk 3-D pieces in Autumn 2011. Kraftwerk performed three concerts to open
1680-403: A lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. Because the pumping takes place "off peak", electricity is less valuable than at peak times. This less valuable "spare" electricity comes from uncontrolled wind power and base load power plants such as coal, nuclear and geothermal, which still produce power at night even though demand is very low. During daytime peak demand, when electricity prices are high,
1800-406: A material that enhances the mixing of the upflowing air and the down-flowing water. In areas with restricted water use, a dry cooling tower or directly air-cooled radiators may be necessary, since the cost or environmental consequences of obtaining make-up water for evaporative cooling would be prohibitive. These coolers have lower efficiency and higher energy consumption to drive fans, compared to
1920-569: A pipe containing a heat transfer fluid, such as oil. The heated oil is then used to boil water into steam, which turns a turbine that drives an electrical generator. The central tower type of solar thermal power plant uses hundreds or thousands of mirrors, depending on size, to direct sunlight onto a receiver on top of a tower. The heat is used to produce steam to turn turbines that drive electrical generators. Wind turbines can be used to generate electricity in areas with strong, steady winds, sometimes offshore . Many different designs have been used in
2040-402: A power plant is to combine two different thermodynamic cycles in a combined cycle plant. Most commonly, exhaust gases from a gas turbine are used to generate steam for a boiler and a steam turbine. The combination of a "top" cycle and a "bottom" cycle produces higher overall efficiency than either cycle can attain alone. In 2018, Inter RAO UES and State Grid Archived 21 December 2021 at
2160-592: A power station is nearly the maximum electrical power that the power station can produce. Some power plants are run at almost exactly their rated capacity all the time, as a non-load-following base load power plant , except at times of scheduled or unscheduled maintenance. However, many power plants usually produce much less power than their rated capacity. In some cases a power plant produces much less power than its rated capacity because it uses an intermittent energy source . Operators try to pull maximum available power from such power plants, because their marginal cost
2280-471: A project of Thomas Edison organized by Edward Johnson . A Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 93 kW (125 horsepower) steam engine that drove a 27-tonne (27-long-ton) generator. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, which was the monopoly of the gas companies. The customers included the City Temple and
2400-486: A self-described "robot pop" style that combined electronic music with pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, while adopting a stylized image including matching suits. Following the release of Electric Café (1986), Flür left the group in 1987, followed by Bartos in 1990. The band released Tour de France Soundtracks , their latest album of new material, in 2003. Founding member Schneider left in 2008. The band, with new members, has continued to tour under
2520-421: A steam turbine. Bioenergy can also be processed through a range of temperatures and pressures in gasification , pyrolysis or torrefaction reactions. Depending on the desired end product, these reactions create more energy-dense products ( syngas , wood pellets , biocoal ) that can then be fed into an accompanying engine to produce electricity at a much lower emission rate when compared with open burning. It
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#17328560925742640-616: A strong sense of alienation existing side by side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology. Starting with the release of Autobahn , Kraftwerk began to release a series of concept albums ( Radio-Activity , Trans-Europe Express , The Man-Machine , Computer World , Tour de France Soundtracks ). All of Kraftwerk's albums from Trans Europe Express onwards, except Tour de France Soundtracks , have been released in separate versions: one with German vocals for sale in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and one with English vocals for
2760-533: A surprising appearance at the MTV European Music Awards in Edinburgh , Scotland, performing "Aerodynamik". The same year a promotional box set entitled 12345678 (subtitled The Catalogue ) was issued, with plans for a proper commercial release to follow. The box featured remastered editions of the group's eight core studio albums, from Autobahn to Tour de France Soundtracks . This long-awaited box-set
2880-669: A turbine is spun creating energy. This method is being specifically studied by the Norwegian utility Statkraft, which has calculated that up to 25 TWh/yr would be available from this process in Norway. Statkraft has built the world's first prototype osmotic power plant on the Oslo fjord which was opened on 24 November 2009. In January 2014, however, Statkraft announced not to continue this pilot. Biomass energy can be produced from combustion of waste green material to heat water into steam and drive
3000-691: A turning point in Kraftwerk's live shows. With financial support from Phonogram Inc. , in the US, they were able to undertake a tour to promote the Autobahn album, a tour which took them to the US, Canada and the UK for the first time. The tour also saw a new, stable, live line-up in the form of a quartet. Hütter and Schneider continued playing keyboard synthesizers such as the Minimoog and ARP Odyssey , with Schneider's use of flute diminishing. The two men started singing live for
3120-445: A typical wet, evaporative cooling tower. Power plants can use an air-cooled condenser, traditionally in areas with a limited or expensive water supply. Air-cooled condensers serve the same purpose as a cooling tower (heat dissipation) without using water. They consume additional auxiliary power and thus may have a higher carbon footprint compared to a traditional cooling tower. Electric companies often prefer to use cooling water from
3240-473: Is a 12-inch album-sized box set containing all eight remastered CDs in cardboard slipcases, as well as LP-sized booklets of photographs and artwork for each individual album. Although not officially confirmed, Ralf Hütter suggested that a second boxed set of their first three experimental albums— Kraftwerk , Kraftwerk 2 and Ralf and Florian —could be on its way, possibly seeing commercial release after their next studio album: "We've just never really taken
3360-481: Is always heat lost to the environment. If this loss is employed as useful heat, for industrial processes or district heating , the power plant is referred to as a cogeneration power plant or CHP (combined heat-and-power) plant. In countries where district heating is common, there are dedicated heat plants called heat-only boiler stations . An important class of power stations in the Middle East uses by-product heat for
3480-583: Is possible to store energy and produce electrical power at a later time as in pumped-storage hydroelectricity , thermal energy storage , flywheel energy storage , battery storage power station and so on. The world's largest form of storage for excess electricity, pumped-storage is a reversible hydroelectric plant. They are a net consumer of energy but provide storage for any source of electricity, effectively smoothing peaks and troughs in electricity supply and demand. Pumped storage plants typically use "spare" electricity during off peak periods to pump water from
3600-518: Is practically zero, but the available power varies widely—in particular, it may be zero during heavy storms at night. In some cases operators deliberately produce less power for economic reasons. The cost of fuel to run a load following power plant may be relatively high, and the cost of fuel to run a peaking power plant is even higher—they have relatively high marginal costs. Operators keep power plants turned off ("operational reserve") or running at minimum fuel consumption ("spinning reserve") most of
3720-449: Is predictable, on a short-term (daily or hourly) base their energy must be used as available since generation cannot be deferred. Contractual arrangements ("take or pay") with independent power producers or system interconnections to other networks may be effectively non-dispatchable. All thermal power plants produce waste heat energy as a byproduct of the useful electrical energy produced. The amount of waste heat energy equals or exceeds
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3840-459: Is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use. Solar energy can be turned into electricity either directly in solar cells , or in a concentrating solar power plant by focusing
3960-504: Is the debut studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk . It was released in Germany in 1970, and produced by Konrad "Conny" Plank . The album was recorded from July to September 1970. Chief Kraftwerk members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider used two drummers during the recording of the album; Andreas Hohmann and Klaus Dinger . Dinger played on "Vom Himmel Hoch", while Hohmann played on "Ruckzuck", and "Stratovarius", however, these last ones were completed before Dinger joined
4080-473: Is within immediate reach or just a few mouse clicks away on the Internet." Power plant Many power stations contain one or more generators , rotating machine that converts mechanical power into three-phase electric power . The relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates an electric current . The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. Most power stations in
4200-578: The 2018 ceremony . In 2021, Kraftwerk was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the early influence category. As of 2024, the band continues to tour , with the members' live performances celebrating Kraftwerk's fiftieth anniversary. Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesizers, violin) and Ralf Hütter (organ, synthesizers) met as students at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf in
4320-514: The Apollo 11 Moon landing. On 21 April 2020, Florian Schneider died at age 73 after a brief battle with cancer. On 3 July 2020, the German-language versions of Trans Europe Express , The Man Machine , Computer World , Techno Pop and The Mix , alongside 3-D The Catalogue , were released worldwide on streaming services for the first time. On 21 December 2020, Parlophone/WEA released Remixes ,
4440-632: The B-side so the single was repackaged by EMI and re-released with "The Model" as the A-side. The single reached number one in the UK, making "The Model" Kraftwerk's most successful song in that country. As a result, the Man-Machine album also became a success in the UK, peaking at number 9 in the album chart in February 1982. The band's live set focused increasingly on song-based material, with greater use of vocals and
4560-710: The Balkans with dates in Serbia , Bulgaria , Macedonia , Turkey , and Greece. In December, the Minimum-Maximum DVD was released. During 2006, the band performed at festivals in Norway, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, and Germany. In April 2008 the group played three shows in US cities Minneapolis , Milwaukee , and Denver , and were a coheadliner at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival . This
4680-726: The Doppler effect . The artwork featured a fluorescent-coloured traffic cone drawn. Kraftwerk was released in November 1970. In early 1971, Hutter left the group and Schneider was left alone with drummer Dinger and newcomer guitarist Michael Rother . The 3-member Kraftwerk line up of Schneider, Dinger and Michael Rother made an appearance on Radio Bremen , and also on the TV shows Beat-Club and Okidoki . After this, Dinger and Rother left to form revered band Neu! , with Hütter rejoining Schneider to continue Kraftwerk and both parties recording under
4800-822: The Old Bailey . Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post Office , but this could not be reached through the culverts. Johnson arranged for the supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate . In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide electric lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. The station ran until destroyed by fire in 1890. The station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. Because of
4920-511: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame . In November 2021, the band announced plans for a 2022 North American tour. With the members' live performances celebrating Kraftwerk's fiftieth anniversary, the Remixes compilation album came out on compact disc and vinyl for the first time in addition. From 27 May to 10 July 2022, the formation undertook a successful North American tour, performing in 24 cities. Since 2023, they have begun visualising their music on
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5040-731: The Roscoe Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm in the world, producing 8000 MW of power, followed by the Zhang Jiakou (3000 MW). As of January 2022, the Hornsea Wind Farm in United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 1218 MW, followed by Walney Wind Farm in United Kingdom at 1026 MW. In 2021, the worldwide installed capacity of power plants increased by 347 GW. Solar and wind power plant capacities rose by 80% in one year. As of 2022 ,
5160-565: The Wayback Machine planned to build an 8-GW thermal power plant, which's the largest coal-fired power plant construction project in Russia . A prime mover is a machine that converts energy of various forms into energy of motion. Power plants that can be dispatched (scheduled) to provide energy to a system include: Non-dispatchable plants include such sources as wind and solar energy; while their long-term contribution to system energy supply
5280-617: The desalination of water. The efficiency of a thermal power cycle is limited by the maximum working fluid temperature produced. The efficiency is not directly a function of the fuel used. For the same steam conditions, coal-, nuclear- and gas power plants all have the same theoretical efficiency. Overall, if a system is on constantly (base load) it will be more efficient than one that is used intermittently (peak load). Steam turbines generally operate at higher efficiency when operated at full capacity. Besides use of reject heat for process or district heating, one way to improve overall efficiency of
5400-484: The largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are led by Bhadla Solar Park in India, rated at 2245 MW. Solar thermal power stations in the U.S. have the following output: Large coal-fired, nuclear, and hydroelectric power stations can generate hundreds of megawatts to multiple gigawatts. Some examples: Gas turbine power plants can generate tens to hundreds of megawatts. Some examples: The rated capacity of
5520-420: The steam turbine in central station service, around 1906, allowed great expansion of generating capacity. Generators were no longer limited by the power transmission of belts or the relatively slow speed of reciprocating engines, and could grow to enormous sizes. For example, Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti planned what would have reciprocating steam engine ever built for a proposed new central station, but scrapped
5640-514: The "adrenalized insurgency" of Detroit artists of the late '60s MC5 and the Stooges . The input, expertise, and influence of producer and engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank was highly significant in the early years of Kraftwerk. Plank also worked with many of the other leading German electronic acts of that time, including members of Can , Neu! , Cluster , and Harmonia . As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio near Cologne became one of
5760-609: The $ 20 ticket price for tickets at New York's MoMA in 2012, which caused consternation. Even so, the demand for the tickets at The Tate was so high that it shut down the website. In March 2013, the band was not allowed to perform at a music festival in China due to unspecified "political reasons". In an interview in June after performing the eight albums of The Catalogue in Sydney, Ralf Hütter stated: "Now we have finished one to eight, now we can concentrate on number nine." In July, they performed at
5880-556: The 1975 Autobahn tour, Kraftwerk began work on a follow-up album, Radio-Activity (German title: Radio-Aktivität ). After further investment in new equipment, the Kling Klang Studio became a fully working recording studio. The group used the central theme in radio communication, which had become enhanced on their last tour of the United States. With Emil Schult working on artwork and lyrics, Kraftwerk began to compose music for
6000-654: The 2009 Manchester International Festival ) four members of the GB cycling squad ( Jason Kenny , Ed Clancy , Jamie Staff and Geraint Thomas ) rode around the Velodrome while the band performed "Tour de France". The group also played several festival dates, the last being at the Bestival 2009 in September, on the Isle of Wight . 2009 also saw the release of The Catalogue box set in November. It
6120-735: The 47th Montreux Jazz Festival. The band also played a 3-D concert on 12 July at Scotland's biggest festival – T in the Park – in Balado, Kinross, as well as 20 July at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, and 21 July at the Longitude Festival in Dublin. In October 2013 the band played four concerts, over two nights, in Eindhoven , Netherlands. The venue, Evoluon (the former technology museum of Philips Electronics , now
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#17328560925746240-723: The Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden and at the music festival Summer Sonic in Tokyo, Japan. In November 2014 the 3D Catalogue live set was played in Paris, France, at the brand new Fondation Louis-Vuitton from 6 to 14 November. and then in the iconic Paradiso concert hall in Amsterdam , Netherlands , where they played before in 1976. In 2015, Ralf Hütter, being told that the Tour de France would be starting that year in
6360-543: The DC distribution, the service area was small, limited by voltage drop in the feeders. In 1886 George Westinghouse began building an alternating current system that used a transformer to step up voltage for long-distance transmission and then stepped it back down for indoor lighting, a more efficient and less expensive system which is similar to modern systems. The war of the currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, although some DC systems persisted to
6480-514: The Drakensberg, Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme . The power generated by a power station is measured in multiples of the watt , typically megawatts (10 watts) or gigawatts (10 watts). Power stations vary greatly in capacity depending on the type of power plant and on historical, geographical and economic factors. The following examples offer a sense of the scale. Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in China. As of 2022,
6600-519: The Japanese lyrics in 2012. Kraftwerk have been recognized as pioneers of electronic music as well as subgenres such as electropop , art pop , house music , synth-pop and electronic rock . In its early incarnation, the band pursued an avant-garde , experimental rock style inspired by the compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen . Hütter has also listed the Beach Boys as a major influence. The group
6720-936: The No Nukes 2012 Festival in Tokyo, Japan. Kraftwerk were also going to play at the Ultra Music Festival in Warsaw , but the event was cancelled; instead, Kraftwerk performed at Way Out West in Gothenburg . A limited edition version of the Catalogue box set was released during the retrospective, restricted to 2000 sets. Each box was individually numbered and inverted the colour scheme of the standard box. In December, Kraftwerk stated on their website that they would be playing their Catalogue in Düsseldorf and at London's Tate Modern. Kraftwerk tickets were priced at £60 in London, but fans compared that to
6840-687: The Radio-Activity tour Kraftwerk began recording Trans-Europe Express (German: Trans-Europa-Express ) at the Kling Klang Studio. Trans-Europe Express was mixed at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles. It was around this time that Hütter and Schneider met David Bowie at the Kling Klang Studio. A collaboration was mentioned in an interview ( Brian Eno ) with Hütter, but it never materialised. The release of Trans-Europe Express in March 1977
6960-505: The amount of energy converted into useful electricity . Gas-fired power plants can achieve as much as 65% conversion efficiency, while coal and oil plants achieve around 30–49%. The waste heat produces a temperature rise in the atmosphere, which is small compared to that produced by greenhouse-gas emissions from the same power plant. Natural draft wet cooling towers at many nuclear power plants and large fossil-fuel-fired power plants use large hyperboloid chimney -like structures (as seen in
7080-493: The band for eight months to focus on completing his university studies, played synthesizer and keyboards (including Farfisa organ and electric piano). The band released two free-form experimental rock albums, Kraftwerk (1970) and Kraftwerk 2 (1972). The albums were mostly exploratory musical improvisations played on a variety of traditional instruments including guitar, bass, drums, organ, flute, and violin. Post-production modifications to these recordings were used to distort
7200-445: The band for the first time to control the electronic sources creating the rhythmic sound of the album Trans-Europe Express . Since 2002, Kraftwerk's live performances have been conducted with the use of virtual technology (i.e. software replicating and replacing original analogue or digital equipment). According to Fritz Hilpert , "the mobility of music technology and the reliability of the notebooks and software have greatly simplified
7320-479: The band were not convinced, and the theme was left to the single alone. "Tour de France" was released in German and French. The vocals of the song were recorded on the Kling Klang Studio stairs to create the right atmosphere. "Tour de France" was featured in the 1984 film Breakin' , showing the influence that Kraftwerk had on West Coast Hip Hop . In May or June 1982, during the recording of "Tour de France", Ralf Hütter
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#17328560925747440-409: The band's equipment increasingly reduced manual playing, replacing it with interactive control of sequencing equipment. Hütter retained the most manual performance, still playing musical lines by hand on a controller keyboard and singing live vocals and having a repeating ostinato . Schneider's live vocoding had been replaced by software-controlled speech-synthesis techniques. In November, the group made
7560-620: The book were titled Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot . In 1999, Kraftwerk were commissioned to create an a cappella jingle for the Hannover Expo 2000 world's fair in Germany. The jingle was subsequently developed into the single " Expo 2000 ", which was released in December 1999, and remixed and re-released as "Expo Remix" in November 2000. In August 2003 the band released Tour de France Soundtracks , its first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café . In January and February 2003, before
7680-405: The commercial success of Autobahn in the US, where it peaked at number 5 in the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes , Hütter and Schneider invested in updating their studio, thus lessening their reliance on outside producers. At this time the painter and graphic artist Emil Schult became a regular collaborator, designing artwork, cowriting lyrics, and accompanying the group on tour. The year 1975 saw
7800-404: The concert, invited by Kraftwerk. Concertgoers were offered 3D glasses to perceive stereoscopic effects on the video screen. In April 2017, Kraftwerk announced 3-D The Catalogue , a live album and video documenting performances of all eight albums in The Catalogue that was released 26 May 2017. It is available in multiple formats, the most extensive of which being a 4-disc Blu-ray set with
7920-417: The cooling machinery. These screens are only partially effective and as a result billions of fish and other aquatic organisms are killed by power plants each year. For example, the cooling system at the Indian Point Energy Center in New York kills over a billion fish eggs and larvae annually. A further environmental impact is that aquatic organisms which adapt to the warmer discharge water may be injured if
8040-404: The device did not work as planned, and it was quickly abandoned. The same year Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider commissioned Bonn -based "Synthesizerstudio Bonn, Matten & Wiechers" to design and build the Synthanorma Sequenzer with Intervallomat, a 4×8 / 2×16 / 1×32 step-sequencer system with some features that commercial products couldn't provide at that time. The music sequencer was used by
8160-400: The early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines , and vocoders . Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet. On commercially successful albums such as Autobahn (1974), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), and Computer World (1981), Kraftwerk developed
8280-421: The electronic pop tunes for which they are best known. In 1976, Kraftwerk toured in support of the Radio-Activity album. David Bowie was among the fans of the record and invited the band to support him on his Station to Station tour, an offer the group declined. Despite some innovations in touring, Kraftwerk took a break from live performances after the Radio-Activity tour of 1976. After having finished
8400-547: The end of the 20th century. DC systems with a service radius of a mile (kilometer) or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations. AC systems used a wide range of frequencies depending on the type of load; lighting load using higher frequencies, and traction systems and heavy motor load systems preferring lower frequencies. The economics of central station generation improved greatly when unified light and power systems, operating at
8520-411: The energy carried by ocean waves , tides , salinity , and ocean temperature differences . The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy , or energy in motion. This energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries. The term marine energy encompasses both wave power —power from surface waves, and tidal power —obtained from
8640-621: The exhibit. Kraftwerk played at Ultra Music Festival in Miami on 23 March 2012. Initiated by Klaus Biesenbach , the Museum of Modern Art of New York organized an exhibit titled Kraftwerk – Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 where the band performed their studio discography from Autobahn to Tour de France over the course of eight days to sell-out crowds. The exhibit later toured to the Tate Gallery as well as to K20 in Düsseldorf. Kraftwerk performed at
8760-789: The façades of castles and other historic buildings in a special way. In May 2024, they performed nine nights at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, presenting one of their eight albums each night and another concert as the ninth gig. On 27 July 2024, at the Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba , Kraftwerk played a cover version of another artist's work for the first time: " Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence " by Ryuichi Sakamoto , who died in 2023. Hütter had been friends with Sakamoto since 1981. After performing "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence", Kraftwerk played "Radioactivity", for which Sakamoto wrote
8880-614: The final mix. The Man-Machine was the first Kraftwerk album where Karl Bartos was cocredited as a songwriter. The cover, produced in black, white and red, was inspired by Russian artist El Lissitzky and the Suprematism movement. Gunther Frohling photographed the group for the cover, a now-iconic image which featured the quartet dressed in red shirts and black ties. After it was released Kraftwerk did not release another album or tour for three years. In May 1981 Kraftwerk released Computer World (German: Computerwelt ) on EMI Records . It
9000-432: The first time, and Schneider processing his voice with a vocoder live. Wolfgang Flür and new recruit Karl Bartos performed on home-made electronic percussion instruments. Bartos also used a Deagan vibraphone on stage. The Hütter-Schneider-Bartos-Flür formation remained in place until the late 1980s and is now regarded as the classic live line-up of Kraftwerk. Emil Schult generally fulfilled the role of tour manager. After
9120-422: The general lighting and power network. Throughout the first few decades of the 20th century central stations became larger, using higher steam pressures to provide greater efficiency, and relying on interconnections of multiple generating stations to improve reliability and cost. High-voltage AC transmission allowed hydroelectric power to be conveniently moved from distant waterfalls to city markets. The advent of
9240-538: The group for rehearsals, and the unit performed as a trio on the television show Aspekte for German television network ZDF . With Ralf und Florian , released in 1973, Kraftwerk began to rely more heavily on synthesizers and drum machines. Although almost entirely instrumental, the album marks Kraftwerk's first use of the vocoder in the song "Ananas Symphonie" (Pineapple Symphony,) which became one of its musical signatures. According to English music journalist Simon Reynolds , Kraftwerk were influenced by what he called
9360-588: The image at the right) that release the waste heat to the ambient atmosphere by the evaporation of water. However, the mechanical induced-draft or forced-draft wet cooling towers in many large thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, fossil-fired power plants, petroleum refineries , petrochemical plants , geothermal , biomass and waste-to-energy plants use fans to provide air movement upward through down coming water and are not hyperboloid chimney-like structures. The induced or forced-draft cooling towers are typically rectangular, box-like structures filled with
9480-401: The image of Kraftwerk; subsequently he encouraged the group to become vegetarians and take up cycling. "Tour de France" included sounds that followed this theme including bicycle chains, gear mechanisms and the breathing of the cyclist. At the time of the single's release Ralf Hütter tried to persuade the rest of the band that they should record a whole album based on cycling. The other members of
9600-406: The kinetic energy of large bodies of moving water. Offshore wind power is not a form of marine energy, as wind power is derived from the wind , even if the wind turbines are placed over water. The oceans have a tremendous amount of energy and are close to many if not most concentrated populations. Ocean energy has the potential of providing a substantial amount of new renewable energy around
9720-519: The largest power plants terawatt-hours (TW·h). It includes the electricity used in the plant auxiliaries and in the transformers. Net generation is the amount of electricity generated by a power plant that is transmitted and distributed for consumer use. Net generation is less than the total gross power generation as some power produced is consumed within the plant itself to power auxiliary equipment such as pumps , motors and pollution control devices. Thus Kraftwerk (album) Kraftwerk
9840-547: The late 1960s , but, significantly, it has continued to be a part of its playing even as it makes ever greater use of digital and computer-controlled sequencing in its performances. Some of the band's familiar compositions have been observed to have developed from live improvisations at its concerts or sound-checks. Throughout their career, Kraftwerk have pushed the limits of music technology with some notable innovations, such as home-made instruments and custom-built devices. The group has always perceived their Kling Klang Studio as
9960-759: The late 1960s, participating in the German experimental music and art scene of the time, which Melody Maker jokingly dubbed " krautrock ". They joined a quintet known as Organisation , which released one album, Tone Float in 1970, issued on RCA Records in the UK, and split shortly thereafter. Schneider became interested in synthesizers, deciding to acquire one in 1970. While visiting an exhibition in their hometown about visual artists Gilbert and George , they see "two men wearing suits and ties, claiming to bring art into everyday life. The same year, Hütter and Schneider started bringing everyday life into art and form Kraftwerk". Early Kraftwerk line-ups from 1970 to 1974 fluctuated, as Hütter and Schneider worked with around
10080-549: The leadership of Hütter. The band's work has influenced a diverse range of artists and many genres of modern music, including synth-pop , hip hop , post-punk , techno , house music , ambient , and club music . In 2014, the Recording Academy honoured Kraftwerk with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . They later won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album with their live album 3-D The Catalogue (2017) at
10200-425: The light to run a heat engine. A solar photovoltaic power plant converts sunlight into direct current electricity using the photoelectric effect . Inverters change the direct current into alternating current for connection to the electrical grid. This type of plant does not use rotating machines for energy conversion. Solar thermal power plants use either parabolic troughs or heliostats to direct sunlight onto
10320-405: The like. They were influenced by the modernist Bauhaus aesthetic, seeing art as inseparable from everyday function. Usually, the lyrics are very minimal but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about, the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life:
10440-431: The mentoring of Conny Plank. No material from this album has been performed in the band's live set since the Autobahn tour of 1975 and, to date, the album has not been officially issued on compact disc . The band are seemingly reluctant to consider the album a part of their canon and in later interviews, Schneider referred to the first three Kraftwerk albums as "archaeology". However, unlicensed CD and vinyl pressings of
10560-489: The most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank co-produced the first four Kraftwerk albums. The release of Autobahn in 1974 saw Kraftwerk moving away from the sound of its first three albums. Hütter and Schneider had invested in newer technology such as the Minimoog and the EMS Synthi AKS , helping give Kraftwerk a newer, "disciplined" sound. Autobahn was also the last album that Conny Plank engineered. After
10680-566: The nearby Dutch city of Utrecht , decided that Kraftwerk would perform during the "Grand Départ". Eventually the band played three concerts 3 and 4 July in TivoliVredenburg performing "Tour de France Soundtracks" and visited the start of the Tour in-between. At the request of race director Christian Prudhomme , Kraftwerk performed at the Tour de France on 1 July 2017, this time in Kraftwerk's hometown Düsseldorf . French electronic band Air opened
10800-530: The new record. Even though Radio-Activity was less commercially successful than Autobahn in the UK and United States, the album served to open up the European market for Kraftwerk, earning them a gold disc in France. Kraftwerk made videos and performed several European live dates to promote the album. With the release of Autobahn and Radio-Activity , Kraftwerk left behind avant-garde experimentation and moved towards
10920-479: The ocean or a lake, river, or cooling pond instead of a cooling tower. This single pass or once-through cooling system can save the cost of a cooling tower and may have lower energy costs for pumping cooling water through the plant's heat exchangers . However, the waste heat can cause thermal pollution as the water is discharged. Power plants using natural bodies of water for cooling are designed with mechanisms such as fish screens , to limit intake of organisms into
11040-557: The past, but almost all modern turbines being produced today use a three-bladed, upwind design. Grid-connected wind turbines now being built are much larger than the units installed during the 1970s. They thus produce power more cheaply and reliably than earlier models. With larger turbines (on the order of one megawatt), the blades move more slowly than older, smaller, units, which makes them less visually distracting and safer for birds. Marine energy or marine power (also sometimes referred to as ocean energy or ocean power ) refers to
11160-433: The plans when turbines became available in the necessary size. Building power systems out of central stations required combinations of engineering skill and financial acumen in equal measure. Pioneers of central station generation include George Westinghouse and Samuel Insull in the United States, Ferranti and Charles Hesterman Merz in UK, and many others . 2021 world electricity generation by source. Total generation
11280-651: The plant shuts down in cold weather . Water consumption by power stations is a developing issue. In recent years, recycled wastewater, or grey water , has been used in cooling towers. The Calpine Riverside and the Calpine Fox power stations in Wisconsin as well as the Calpine Mankato power station in Minnesota are among these facilities. Power stations can generate electrical energy from renewable energy sources. In
11400-406: The power themselves, in which case the generation output is classified into gross generation , and net generation . Gross generation or gross electric output is the total amount of electricity generated by a power plant over a specific period of time. It is measured at the generating terminal and is measured in kilowatt-hours (kW·h), megawatt-hours (MW·h), gigawatt-hours (GW·h) or for
11520-457: The realization of complex touring setups: we generate all sounds on the laptops in real time and manipulate them with controller maps. It takes almost no time to get our compact stage system set up for performance. [...] This way, we can bring our Kling-Klang Studio with us on stage. The physical light weight of our equipment also translates into an enormous ease of use when working with software synthesizers and sound processors. Every tool imaginable
11640-453: The release of the album, the band started the extensive Minimum-Maximum world tour, using four customised Sony VAIO laptop computers, effectively leaving the entire Kling Klang studio at home in Germany. The group also obtained a new set of transparent video panels to replace its four large projection screens. This greatly streamlined the running of all of the group's sequencing, sound-generating, and visual-display software. From this point,
11760-438: The rest of the world, with occasional variations in other languages when conceptually appropriate. Live performance has always played an important part in Kraftwerk's activities. Also, despite its live shows generally being based around formal songs and compositions, live improvisation often plays a noticeable role in its performances. This trait can be traced back to the group's roots in the first experimental Krautrock scene of
11880-443: The road. They also made greater use of live visuals including back-projected slides and films synchronized with the music as the technology developed, the use of hand-held miniaturized instruments during the set, and the use of replica mannequins of themselves to perform on stage during the song "The Robots". In 1982 Kraftwerk began to work on a new album that initially had the working title Technicolor but due to trademark issues
12000-489: The sessions. The other instrumentation features Hütter on bass and Hammond and Tubon electric organs, the latter was made by Swedish factory Joh Mustad AB in 1966, whilst Schneider supplied flute. The song "Ruckzuck" is driven by a powerful multi-dubbed flute riff, along with electric violin and guitar; these instruments often connected to further electronics via an Electronic Music Studios pitch-to-voltage converter. "Vom Himmel Hoch" has slight pitch curves that emulate
12120-493: The sound of the instruments, particularly audio-tape manipulation and multiple dubbings of one instrument on the same track. Both albums are purely instrumental. Live performances from 1972 to 1973 were mostly made as a duo, using a simple beat-box-type electronic drum machine with preset rhythms taken from an electric organ. Occasionally, they performed with bass players as well. These shows were mainly in Germany, with occasional shows in France. Later in 1973, Wolfgang Flür joined
12240-506: The storage is used for peaking power , where water in the upper reservoir is allowed to flow back to a lower reservoir through a turbine and generator. Unlike coal power stations, which can take more than 12 hours to start up from cold, a hydroelectric generator can be brought into service in a few minutes, ideal to meet a peak load demand. Two substantial pumped storage schemes are in South Africa, Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme and another in
12360-448: The time. Operators feed more fuel into load following power plants only when the demand rises above what lower-cost plants (i.e., intermittent and base load plants) can produce, and then feed more fuel into peaking power plants only when the demand rises faster than the load following power plants can follow. Not all of the generated power of a plant is necessarily delivered into a distribution system. Power plants typically also use some of
12480-502: The use of sequencing equipment for both percussion and music. In contrast to their cool and controlled image, the group used sequencers interactively, which allowed for live improvisation. Ironically, Kraftwerk did not own a computer at the time of recording Computer World . Kraftwerk returned to live performance with the Computer World tour of 1981, where the band effectively packed up its entire Kling Klang studio and took it along on
12600-412: The world burn fossil fuels such as coal , oil , and natural gas to generate electricity. Low-carbon power sources include nuclear power , and use of renewables such as solar , wind , geothermal , and hydroelectric . In early 1871 Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a generator powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry. In 1878, a hydroelectric power station
12720-481: The world with Kraftwerk as a drummer in 1981, his playing does not appear on that year's Computer World or on the 1986 album Electric Café . In 1987 he left the band and was replaced by Fritz Hilpert . After years of withdrawal from live performance Kraftwerk began to tour Europe more frequently. In February 1990 the band played a few secret shows in Italy. Karl Bartos left the band shortly afterwards. The next proper tour
12840-415: The world. Salinity gradient energy is called pressure-retarded osmosis. In this method, seawater is pumped into a pressure chamber that is at a pressure lower than the difference between the pressures of saline water and fresh water. Freshwater is also pumped into the pressure chamber through a membrane, which increases both the volume and pressure of the chamber. As the pressure differences are compensated,
12960-422: Was 28 petawatt-hours . In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine that transforms thermal energy , often from combustion of a fuel , into rotational energy. Most thermal power stations produce steam, so they are sometimes called steam power stations. Not all thermal energy can be transformed into mechanical power, according to the second law of thermodynamics ; therefore, there
13080-449: Was also inspired by the funk music of James Brown and, later, punk rock . They were initially connected to the German krautrock scene. In the mid- 1970s , they transitioned to an electronic sound which they described as "robot pop". Kraftwerk's lyrics dealt with post-war European urban life and technology—traveling by car on the Autobahn , traveling by train, using home computers, and
13200-506: Was cancelled moments before it was scheduled to begin, due to Fritz Hilpert experiencing a medical emergency. In 2009, Kraftwerk performed concerts with special 3D background graphics in Wolfsburg, Germany; Manchester, UK; and Randers, Denmark. Members of the audience were able to watch this multimedia part of the show with 3D glasses, which were given out. During the Manchester concert (part of
13320-486: Was changed to Electric Café for its original release in 1986 (for a remastered re-release in 2009, it was retitled again after its original working title, Techno Pop ). One of the songs from these recording sessions was " Tour de France ", which EMI released as a single in 1983. This song was a reflection of the band's new-found obsession for cycling. After the physically demanding Computer World tour, Ralf Hütter had been looking for forms of exercise that fitted in with
13440-486: Was designed and built by William, Lord Armstrong at Cragside , England . It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos . The electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings. In January 1882 the world's first public coal-fired power station , the Edison Electric Light Station , was built in London,
13560-476: Was eventually released in a different set of remasters in November 2009. In June 2005 the band's first-ever official live album, Minimum-Maximum , which was compiled from the shows during the band's tour of spring 2004, received praise from NME . The album contained reworked tracks from existing studio albums. This included a track titled "Planet of Visions" that was a reworking of "Expo 2000". In support of this release, Kraftwerk made another quick sweep around
13680-460: Was in 1991, for the album The Mix . Hütter and Schneider wished to continue the synth-pop quartet style of presentation, and recruited Fernando Abrantes as a replacement for Bartos. Abrantes left the band shortly after though. In late 1991, long-time Kling Klang Studio sound engineer Henning Schmitz was brought in to finish the remainder of the tour and to complete a new version of the quartet that remained active until 2008. In 1997 Kraftwerk made
13800-416: Was involved in a serious cycling accident. He suffered head injuries and remained in a coma for several days. During 1983 Wolfgang Flür was beginning to spend less time in the studio. Since the band began using sequencers his role as a drummer was becoming less frequent. He preferred to spend his time travelling with his girlfriend. Flür was also experiencing artistic difficulties with the band. Though he toured
13920-446: Was marked with an extravagant train journey used as a press conference by EMI France. The album won a disco award in New York later that year. In May 1978 Kraftwerk released The Man-Machine (German: Die Mensch-Maschine ), recorded at the Kling Klang Studio. Due to the complexity of the recording, the album was mixed at Studio Rudas in Düsseldorf. The band hired sound engineer Leanard Jackson from Detroit to work with Joschko Rudas on
14040-404: Was recorded at Kling Klang Studio between 1978 and 1981. Much of this time was spent modifying the studio to make it portable so the band could take it on tour. Some of the electronic vocals on Computer World were generated using a Texas Instruments language translator. " Computer Love " was released as a single backed with the Man-Machine track " The Model ". Radio DJs were more interested in
14160-555: Was reissued in Europe by EMI after it had been out of print for several years. It was released for the first time on CD in addition to a repressing of the 12-inch vinyl single. Both versions feature slightly altered artwork that removed the faces of Flür and Bartos from the four-man cycling paceline depicted on the original cover. In 1999 ex-member Flür published his autobiography in Germany, Ich war ein Roboter . Later English-language editions of
14280-469: Was their second appearance at the festival since 2004. Further shows were performed in Ireland, Poland, Ukraine , Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore later that year. The touring quartet consisted of Ralf Hütter, Henning Schmitz, Fritz Hilpert , and video technician Stefan Pfaffe, who became an official member in 2008. Original member Florian Schneider was absent from the lineup. Hütter stated that he
14400-645: Was working on other projects. On 21 November, Kraftwerk officially confirmed Florian Schneider's departure from the band; The Independent commented: "There is something brilliantly Kraftwerkian about the news that Florian Schneider, a founder member of the German electronic pioneers, is leaving the band to pursue a solo career. Many successful bands break up after just a few years. It has apparently taken Schneider and his musical partner, Ralf Hütter, four decades to discover musical differences." Kraftwerk's headline set at Global Gathering in Melbourne, Australia, on 22 November
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