Hydro power plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Approximate location -22.7833, -44.2333.
HydroRio de JaneiroBrazil
Braço is a 12 MW hydro power plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 11,513 homes (estimated). It ranks #1318 of 2,613 Brazil power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2011, it is around 15 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 BRA0030001.
At 12 MW, Braço is around the median hydro plant in Brazil (12 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).
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 22.8°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 98% 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: 14/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #351 largest hydro power plant of 701 in Brazil by capacity.
Brazil has 701 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 98,039 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -22.7833, -44.2333 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Plants like this lose energy through hot valves, flanges, steam lines and heat exchangers. Inzonex makes removable, reusable valve, flange & pipe insulation that cuts that loss by up to 90% and holds surface temperatures under 45°C, unclipping in seconds for maintenance. See the industrial-AI efficiency hub for tools and benchmarks.
Braço is a 12 MW hydro power plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, commissioned in 2011.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 11,513 homes (estimated).
