Hydro power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 35.4346, -80.9588.
HydroNorth CarolinaUnited States of America
Cowans Ford is a 350 MW hydro power station in North Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 264 GWh, it can supply roughly 75,342 homes. It ranks #875 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1964, it is around 62 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0002722.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC. All plants by this company →
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 35.4°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 28% 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: 39/100 — 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.
The #61 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.
Coordinates 35.4346, -80.9588 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
