Home / North America / United States of America / Canton North Carolina

Canton North Carolina

Coal power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 35.535, -82.8411.

CoalNorth CarolinaUnited States of America

Canton North Carolina is a 52 MW coal power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. Based on reported annual generation of 289 GWh, it can supply roughly 82,542 homes. It ranks #2663 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1953, it is around 73 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).

52MW installed capacity
289GWh reported / yr
82,542homes powered
1953commissioned (~73 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050244.

~288,900 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

67,343passenger cars driven for a year
37,676homes' yearly energy use
4,815,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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.

Reported generation trend

2013: 320 GWh20132014: 336 GWh20142015: 342 GWh20152016: 338 GWh20162017: 336 GWh20172018: 310 GWh20182019: 289 GWh2019342 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 35.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.2°Cannual mean temp
2,620heating degree-days (base 18°C)
144cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,056 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 1 °CJF: 3 °CFM: 7 °CMA: 11 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 12 °CON: 7 °CND: 3 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 7% 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: 52/100 — 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 #251 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.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 35.535, -82.8411 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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