Within the energy industry, a generator is an actual producer of electrical energy, so it can refer to either a facility that produces energy or to the party that operates the facility.

Also refers to any device that transforms another type of energy into electricity. Wind-powered generators, for example, convert the wind's mechanical energy to electricity.

Nuclear energy facilities perform three conversions, and this process points out a confusing issue related to this term. Nuclear energy is first converted to heat energy in the form of steam. The heat energy is then converted to mechanical (kinetic) energy, when steam turns the turbines. Finally the mechanical energy is converted to electricity when the turbines rotate an electrical generator. In precise terms, each of these three conversions require a separate generator, since the nuclear reactor generates heat, the turbine generates kinetic energy, and the electrical generator generates electricity. It is thus more precise to qualify generating devices by the type of energy they produce (in this example, a thermal generator, a mechanical generator and an electrical generator).

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