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Please give answer that, whether electricity in our home comes directly after it is generated e.g. at a dam or nuclear plant or first it is stored somewhere and then distributed as it is needed.

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We can store electricity directly, only in a system with a decent amount of capacitance. i.e. in capacitors. Hoever, in general, electricity grids have next-to-no capacitance; so the electricity comes straight from the generator to you.

There are lots of ways to store electricity indirectly, and on electricity grids, that's almost exclusively done by pumped hydro storage. And because it's indirect, whether hydro or battery or whatever, the electricity you use has still been generated a moment before it reaches you, whether at a hydro plant (where it is converted from gravitational potential), or at a battery (where it is converted from chemical energy), or whatever.

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, for me batteries are a form of direct electricity storage, all chemistry bonds are electromagnetic. $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 13:22
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There are some ways to store energy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_energy_storage ; hydro storage was mentioned here, but theoretically it is also possible to store energy using flywheels - http://www.beaconpower.com/ (but that specific company went bust:-)).

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Storage of electricity per se can only happen with batteries. The electricity consumed in the towns villages and cities, megawatts, is so large that even considering batteries is ludicrous.

Electricity comes directly at practically the speed of light from the generators to the houses.

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    $\begingroup$ thanks for your answer, but this question came in my mind because here in India, mostly the electricity comes from dams on rivers, but in summer most of the rivers have no water, and it is affected by 4-6 hours load-shading(in this time no electricity is provided), but still from where the remaining hour's electricity come. By the way, thanks for your answer. $\endgroup$
    – android developer
    Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 12:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Shirish hydro isn't the only generator on the system. There's coal and other generators too, and they can be hundreds of miles away $\endgroup$
    – 410 gone
    Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 13:06
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    $\begingroup$ The dams are a way of storing energy, not electricity. When the dams have no water then natural gas or coal or oil generators are utilized. Hydroelectric power is preferable, because energy is not wasted, they can ration the flow. Generators that use heat are complicated and cannot be easily switched off during low demand or on when demand rises, they always have to be running even when used as backup for wind power and photovoltaic. The electricity comes directly to the home and factory. $\endgroup$
    – anna v
    Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 13:20

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