Churchill Falls

Churchill Falls is a 5,428 MW hydro power station in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is operated by Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation (Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro / Hydro-Québec). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 5.4 million homes (estimated). It ranks #2 of 1,211 Canada power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1971, it is around 55 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 52.8% of Canada's electricity; the national grid averages 191 gCO₂/kWh (77.0% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CAN0002128.

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 L100000600425); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 5,428 MW, Churchill Falls is well above the median hydro plant in Canada (12 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 Canada

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

Owner

Operated by Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation (Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro / Hydro-Québec).

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 53.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

Heating degree-days here run 220% 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: 100/100 — 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 benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

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 #2 largest hydro power plant of 556 in Canada by capacity.

Canada has 556 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 81,037 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Twin Falls (Iron Ore) · Hydro · 225 MW · Newfoundland and Labrador

Location

Coordinates 53.5294, -63.9651 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions