Dworshak

Hydro power plant in Idaho, United States of America. Approximate location 46.5143, -116.2977.

HydroIdahoUnited States of America

Dworshak is a 465 MW hydro power station in Idaho, United States of America. It is operated by USACE Northwestern Division. Based on reported annual generation of 1,702 GWh, it can supply roughly 486,371 homes. It ranks #762 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 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).

465MW installed capacity
1,702GWh reported / yr
486,371homes powered
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000840.

Reported generation trend

2013: 1,834 GWh20132014: 1,745 GWh20142015: 1,615 GWh20152016: 1,694 GWh20162017: 1,437 GWh20172018: 1,598 GWh20182019: 1,702 GWh20192k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by USACE Northwestern Division. 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 warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 46.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.7°Cannual mean temp
3,478heating degree-days (base 18°C)
103cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
745 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -2 °CJF: 1 °CFM: 4 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 12 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 15 °CSO: 9 °CON: 3 °CND: -1 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 41% 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: 75/100 — this site sits in the top 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 #49 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 46.5143, -116.2977 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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