Garzas 2 — United States of America

Garzas 2 is a 5 MW hydro power plant in Penuelas, United States of America. It is operated by PREPA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 5.0k homes (estimated). It ranks #6814 of 10,884 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1941, it is around 85 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 WRI1026826.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 5 MW, Garzas 2 is below the median hydro plant in United States of America (8 MW). 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.

Key facts

Share of United States of America hydro capacity

less than 0.1% of 102,513 MW across 1,449 plants in this dataset

Age among peers

470 of 1,444 dated hydro plants in United States of America are older

Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in United States of America

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

Owner

Operated by PREPA. 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 tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 18.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.

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

This site sits in an extreme marine/tropical environment (estimated ISO 9223 class CX — Extreme), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

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 #861 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 102,513 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Garzas 1 · Hydro · 7.2 MW · Penuelas
• Costa Sur · Gas · 42 MW · Guayanilla
• Costa Sur power station · Gas · 1,090 MW · Puerto Rico
• Costa Sur · Oil · 990 MW · Guayanilla
• EcoEléctrica · Gas · 507 MW · Guayanilla
• EcoElectrica power station · Gas · 574 MW · Puerto Rico

Location

Coordinates 18.0727, -66.7305 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions