Coal power plant in Minnesota, United States of America. Approximate location 45.3037, -96.5101.
CoalMinnesotaUnited States of America
Big Stone is a 451 MW coal power station in Minnesota, United States of America. It is operated by Otter Tail Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 2,619 GWh, it can supply roughly 748,314 homes. It ranks #771 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1975, it is around 51 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006098.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Otter Tail Power Co. All plants by this company →
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 45.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 80% above 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: 90/100 — this site sits in the top 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.
The #173 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 45.3037, -96.5101 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
