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HIRAKUD I&II

Hydro power plant in Odisha, India. Approximate location 21.5337, 83.8754.

HydroOdishaIndiaconventional storage

HIRAKUD I&II is a 288 MW hydro power station in Odisha, India. It is operated by Odisha Hydro Power Corp Ltd [100%]. Based on reported annual generation of 546 GWh, it can supply roughly 156k homes. It ranks #652 of 2,229 India power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1963, it is around 63 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 8.6% of India's electricity; the national grid averages 670 gCO₂/kWh (26.7% low-carbon) (2025).

288Source-backed capacity
546GWh reported / yr
155,942homes powered
1963commissioned (~63 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id IND0000144.

Data status

Known data

FacilityHIRAKUD I&II WRI
CountryIndia · Odisha WRI
Coordinates21.5337, 83.8754 WRI
FuelHydro WRI
MW installed capacity288 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerOdisha Hydro Power Corp Ltd [100%] WRI
Commissioned1963 WRI
Technologyconventional storage WRI
GWh reported / yr546 GWh/yr WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#652 of 2229 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#50 of 233 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers3.60× · 80 MW median · 233 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent155,942 calculated from reported generation
Climate26.9°C · HDD 0 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC3 · 40/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 288 MW for Hirakud I hydroelectric plant, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: C_REVIEW_MANUAL - recommended action: manual_review_only - confidence: unknown. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.

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 L100000601879); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 288 MW, HIRAKUD I&II is well above the median hydro plant in India (80 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.

Reported generation trend

2014: 883 GWh20142015: 680 GWh20152016: 713 GWh20162017: 859 GWh20172018: 546 GWh2018883 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Odisha Hydro Power Corp Ltd [100%].

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 21.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

26.9°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
3,238cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
162 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 21 °CJF: 23 °CFM: 27 °CMA: 32 °CAM: 34 °CMJ: 32 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 28 °CSO: 27 °CON: 23 °CND: 20 °CD34 °C

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

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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

C3ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
40/100environmental-severity index
14.3°Cseasonal temperature swing
278 kmdistance to coast

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 #50 largest hydro power plant of 233 in India by capacity.

India has 233 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 45,527 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 21.5337, 83.8754 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is HIRAKUD I&II?

HIRAKUD I&II is a 288 MW source-record hydro power plant in Odisha, India, commissioned in 1963.

How much electricity does HIRAKUD I&II generate?

HIRAKUD I&II generates about 546 GWh of electricity per year.

How many homes can HIRAKUD I&II power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 155,942 homes.

Who operates HIRAKUD I&II?

HIRAKUD I&II is operated by Odisha Hydro Power Corp Ltd [100%].

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