Lay Dam

Hydro power plant in Alabama, United States of America. Approximate location 32.9633, -86.5187.

HydroAlabamaUnited States of America

Lay Dam is a 177 MW hydro power station in Alabama, United States of America. It is operated by Alabama Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 667 GWh, it can supply roughly 190,657 homes. It ranks #1373 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1967, it is around 59 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).

177MW installed capacity
667GWh reported / yr
190,657homes powered
1967commissioned (~59 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000015.

Reported generation trend

2013: 774 GWh20132014: 562 GWh20142015: 558 GWh20152016: 405 GWh20162017: 500 GWh20172018: 685 GWh20182019: 667 GWh2019774 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Alabama Power Co. 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 33.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

17.0°Cannual mean temp
1,315heating degree-days (base 18°C)
957cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
167 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 6 °CJF: 8 °CFM: 13 °CMA: 17 °CAM: 21 °CMJ: 25 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 23 °CSO: 17 °CON: 12 °CND: 8 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 47% 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: 31/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #103 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 32.9633, -86.5187 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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