Hydro power plant in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Approximate location -27.7769, -51.1933.
HydroSanta CatarinaBrazilconventional storage
Barra Grande is a 690 MW hydro power station in Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is operated by Auren Energia SA [10%]; DME Energética SA [8%]; Votorantim SA [13%]; Barra Grand. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 691k homes (estimated). It ranks #71 of 2,572 Brazil power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2005, it is around 21 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 51.8% of Brazil's electricity; the national grid averages 110 gCO₂/kWh (88.7% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id BRA0027556.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 operating-unit sum (location L100000600219); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 690 MW, Barra Grande is well above the median hydro plant in Brazil (12 MW). Technically it is described as conventional storage. Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Auren Energia SA [10%]; DME Energética SA [8%]; Votorantim SA [13%]; Barra Grand.
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 27.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 66% 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: 25/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #36 largest hydro power plant of 701 in Brazil by capacity.
Brazil has 701 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 105,987 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -27.7769, -51.1933 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Barra Grande is a 690 MW source-record hydro power plant in Santa Catarina, Brazil, commissioned in 2005.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 690,788 homes (estimated).
Barra Grande is operated by Auren Energia SA [10%]; DME Energética SA [8%]; Votorantim SA [13%]; Barra Grand.
