Ludington

Hydro power plant in Michigan, United States of America. Approximate location 43.8942, -86.4447.

HydroMichiganUnited States of America

Ludington is a 1,979 MW hydro power station in Michigan, United States of America. It is operated by Consumers Energy Co. Based on reported annual generation of -696 GWh, it can supply roughly -199,000 homes. It ranks #78 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1973, it is around 53 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).

1,979MW installed capacity
-696GWh reported / yr
-199,000homes powered
1973commissioned (~53 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001713.

Reported generation trend

2013: -871 GWh20132014: -701 GWh20142015: -481 GWh20152016: -752 GWh20162017: -675 GWh20172018: -698 GWh20182019: -696 GWh2019-481 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Consumers Energy 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 warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 43.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

7.7°Cannual mean temp
3,855heating degree-days (base 18°C)
136cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
202 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -6 °CJF: -5 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 12 °CMJ: 17 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 10 °CON: 4 °CND: -2 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 57% 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: 82/100 — 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #6 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 43.8942, -86.4447 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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