Biomass power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 34.3533, -78.2137.
BiomassNorth CarolinaUnited States of America
International Paper Riegelwood Mill is a 52 MW biomass power plant in North Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by International Paper Co-Riegelwood. Based on reported annual generation of 377 GWh, it can supply roughly 108k homes. It ranks #3653 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1973, it is around 53 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, biomass supplies about 1.0% 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 USA0054656.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 52 MW, International Paper Riegelwood Mill is well above the median biomass plant in United States of America (18 MW). Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by International Paper Co-Riegelwood.
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.4°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 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.
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.
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 corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
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.
The #54 largest biomass power plant of 184 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 184 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 6,324 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 34.3533, -78.2137 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
International Paper Riegelwood Mill is a 52 MW source-record biomass power plant in North Carolina, United States of America, commissioned in 1973.
International Paper Riegelwood Mill generates about 377 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 107,600 homes.
International Paper Riegelwood Mill is operated by International Paper Co-Riegelwood.
