Home / Europe / Italy / CADARESE

CADARESE

Hydro power plant in Piedmont, Italy. Approximate location 46.2921, 8.3038.

HydroPiedmontItalyconventional storage

CADARESE is a 68 MW hydro power plant in Piedmont, Italy. It is operated by Enel Green Power SpA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 68k homes (estimated). It ranks #192 of 489 Italy power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1929, it is around 97 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 15.8% of Italy's electricity; the national grid averages 285 gCO₂/kWh (48.8% low-carbon) (2025).

68Source-backed capacity
68,077homes powered (est.)
1929commissioned (~97 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1021327.

Data status

Known data

FacilityCADARESE WRI
CountryItaly · Piedmont WRI
Coordinates46.2921, 8.3038 WRI
FuelHydro WRI
MW installed capacity68 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerEnel Green Power SpA WRI
Commissioned1929 WRI
Technologyconventional storage WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#192 of 489 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#52 of 58 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers0.52× · 132 MW median · 58 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent68,077 calculated
Climate3.8°C · HDD 5,164 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC2 · 21/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

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 (location L100001023101); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 68 MW, CADARESE is below the median hydro plant in Italy (132 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.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Italy

ENTRACQUE_CHRO: 1,064 MW1kENTRACQUE_…RONCOVALGRANDE: 1,000 MW1kRONCOVALGR…PRESENZANO: 985 MW985PRESENZANOEDOLO: 950 MW950EDOLOGROSIO: 737 MW737GROSIOS.FIORANO: 544 MW544S.FIORANOANAPO C.LE: 500 MW500ANAPO C.LES.GIACOMO: 490 MW490S.GIACOMO

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Enel Green Power SpA.

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a subarctic (boreal) climate (Köppen Dfc) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 46.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

3.8°Cannual mean temp
5,164heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,745 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -3 °CJF: -3 °CFM: -1 °CMA: 1 °CAM: 6 °CMJ: 9 °CJJ: 12 °CJA: 12 °CAS: 9 °CSO: 5 °CON: 0 °CND: -2 °CD12 °C

Heating degree-days here run 110% 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: 95/100 — this site sits in the top 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.

Site climate & environmental severity

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.

C2ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
21/100environmental-severity index
15.0°Cseasonal temperature swing
229 kmdistance to coast

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #52 largest hydro power plant of 58 in Italy by capacity.

Italy has 58 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 13,593 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 46.2921, 8.3038 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is CADARESE?

CADARESE is a 68 MW source-record hydro power plant in Piedmont, Italy, commissioned in 1929.

How many homes can CADARESE power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 68,077 homes (estimated).

Who operates CADARESE?

CADARESE is operated by Enel Green Power SpA.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.