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Altavista Power Station

Waste power plant in Virginia, United States of America. Approximate location 37.1187, -79.2736.

WasteVirginiaUnited States of America

Altavista Power Station is a 71 MW waste power plant in Virginia, United States of America. It is operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 272 GWh, it can supply roughly 77,857 homes. It ranks #2371 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1992, it is around 34 years old — long-established. In context, the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

71MW installed capacity
272GWh reported / yr
77,857homes powered
1992commissioned (~34 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0010773.

Reported generation trend

2013: 0 GWh20132014: 0 GWh20142015: 0 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 272 GWh2019272 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This waste plant recovers energy by combusting municipal or industrial waste. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.7°Cannual mean temp
2,147heating degree-days (base 18°C)
593cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
213 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 8 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 18 °CMJ: 22 °CJJ: 25 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 14 °CON: 9 °CND: 4 °CD25 °C

Heating degree-days here run 13% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 45/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #28 largest waste power plant of 541 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 541 waste power plants in this dataset, together about 9,768 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 37.1187, -79.2736 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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