Hydro power plant in Orange Free State, South Africa. Approximate location -28.217, 28.3631.
HydroOrange Free StateSouth Africa
Bethlehem Hydro is a 7 MW hydro power plant in Orange Free State, South Africa. It is operated by Bethlehem Hydro Proprietary Limited. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 7.0k homes (estimated). It ranks #143 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2009, it is around 17 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 0.8% of South Africa's electricity; the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1026016.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 7 MW, Bethlehem Hydro is below the median hydro plant in South Africa (360 MW). 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 Bethlehem Hydro Proprietary Limited.
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 28.2°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 38% 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: 35/100 — this site sits in the mid 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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), 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 #6 largest hydro power plant of 6 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 6 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 2,020 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -28.217, 28.3631 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Bethlehem Hydro is a 7 MW source-record hydro power plant in Orange Free State, South Africa, commissioned in 2009.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 7,008 homes (estimated).
Bethlehem Hydro is operated by Bethlehem Hydro Proprietary Limited.
