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Friant Hydro Facility

Hydro power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 36.9977, -119.7035.

HydroCaliforniaUnited States of America

Friant Hydro Facility is a 38 MW hydro power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by Friant Power Authority. Based on reported annual generation of 179 GWh, it can supply roughly 51,114 homes. It ranks #3084 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1991, it is around 35 years old — long-established. 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).

38MW installed capacity
179GWh reported / yr
51,114homes powered
1991commissioned (~35 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050393.

Reported generation trend

2013: 50 GWh20132014: 14 GWh20142015: 7 GWh20152016: 38 GWh20162017: 166 GWh20172018: 126 GWh20182019: 179 GWh2019179 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Friant Power Authority.

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

17.4°Cannual mean temp
1,266heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,064cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
207 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 8 °CJF: 10 °CFM: 12 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 20 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 27 °CAS: 24 °CSO: 19 °CON: 12 °CND: 8 °CD28 °C

Heating degree-days here run 48% 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: 30/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #358 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 36.9977, -119.7035 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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