Kentucky Dam

Hydro power plant in Kentucky, United States of America. Approximate location 37.0131, -88.2692.

HydroKentuckyUnited States of America

Kentucky Dam is a 219 MW hydro power station in Kentucky, United States of America. It is operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. Based on reported annual generation of 924 GWh, it can supply roughly 264,000 homes. It ranks #1167 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1945, it is around 81 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).

219MW installed capacity
924GWh reported / yr
264,000homes powered
1945commissioned (~81 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001377.

Reported generation trend

2013: 1,429 GWh20132014: 1,239 GWh20142015: 1,265 GWh20152016: 924 GWh20162017: 1,268 GWh20172018: 1,098 GWh20182019: 924 GWh20191k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.4°Cannual mean temp
2,063heating degree-days (base 18°C)
781cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
127 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 9 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 15 °CON: 9 °CND: 4 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 16% 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: 44/100 — this site sits in the mid 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 #84 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 37.0131, -88.2692 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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