Camino

Hydro power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 38.8288, -120.5371.

HydroCaliforniaUnited States of America

Camino is a 158 MW hydro power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by Sacramento Municipal Util Dist. Based on reported annual generation of 464 GWh, it can supply roughly 132,571 homes. It ranks #1476 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1965, it is around 61 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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).

158MW installed capacity
464GWh reported / yr
132,571homes powered
1965commissioned (~61 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000430.

Reported generation trend

2013: 211 GWh20132014: 154 GWh20142015: 102 GWh20152016: 404 GWh20162017: 480 GWh20172018: 291 GWh20182019: 464 GWh2019480 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Sacramento Municipal Util Dist. 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 hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 38.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.7°Cannual mean temp
3,069heating degree-days (base 18°C)
56cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,497 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 3 °CFM: 4 °CMA: 7 °CAM: 11 °CMJ: 15 °CJJ: 19 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 11 °CON: 6 °CND: 2 °CD19 °C

Heating degree-days here run 25% 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: 64/100 — 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 #121 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 38.8288, -120.5371 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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