Megawatts & Marbles Information

Megawatts & Marbles is a fun, interactive, multi-player workshop developed by a group of graduate students at the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) at the University of Victoria. We demonstrate how different types of power generation behave and how these different types of generation are integrated into the electrical grid. Participants experience the challenges of balancing generation and demand, hands-on, by taking on the roles of power plants who must work together to meet time-varying demand. Electricity, represented by marbles, is transmitted down a track to the consumers - a model city. Will the generators meet the demand or will the lights go out? Through this game the challenges of balancing generation and demand are experienced hands-on in the context of a transition to a "greener" electricity system with more renewable power.