Hydropower Plant CHE-Costesti is a 16 MW hydro power plant in Botosani, Moldova. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 16,018 homes (estimated). It ranks #8 of 8 Moldova power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1978, it is around 48 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 5.7% of Moldova's electricity; the national grid averages 633 gCO₂/kWh (11.2% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1002987.
At 16 MW, Hydropower Plant CHE-Costesti is below the median hydro plant in Moldova (48 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 47.8°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 35% 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: 71/100 — 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.
The #2 largest hydro power plant of 2 in Moldova by capacity.
Moldova has 2 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 64 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 47.8381, 27.2246 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Plants like this lose energy through hot valves, flanges, steam lines and heat exchangers. Inzonex makes removable, reusable valve, flange & pipe insulation that cuts that loss by up to 90% and holds surface temperatures under 45°C, unclipping in seconds for maintenance. See the industrial-AI efficiency hub for tools and benchmarks.
Hydropower Plant CHE-Costesti is a 16 MW hydro power plant in Botosani, Moldova, commissioned in 1978.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 16,018 homes (estimated).