Buford

Hydro power plant in Georgia, United States of America. Approximate location 34.1623, -84.0774.

HydroGeorgiaUnited States of America

Buford is a 131 MW hydro power station in Georgia, United States of America. It is operated by USCE-Mobile District. Based on reported annual generation of 271 GWh, it can supply roughly 77,400 homes. It ranks #1659 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2004, it is around 22 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 5.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

131MW installed capacity
271GWh reported / yr
77,400homes powered
2004commissioned (~22 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000759.

Reported generation trend

2013: 214 GWh20132014: 180 GWh20142015: 162 GWh20152016: 199 GWh20162017: 65 GWh20172018: 210 GWh20182019: 271 GWh2019271 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by USCE-Mobile District. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

15.7°Cannual mean temp
1,609heating degree-days (base 18°C)
800cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
329 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 5 °CJF: 7 °CFM: 12 °CMA: 16 °CAM: 20 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 16 °CON: 11 °CND: 7 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 35% 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: 36/100 — 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 #144 largest hydro power plant of 1449 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1449 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 101,657 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 34.1623, -84.0774 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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