MacKay

Hydro power plant in Ontario, Canada. Approximate location 47.2688, -84.4364.

HydroOntarioCanadaconventional storage

MacKay is a 62 MW hydro power plant in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 62k homes (estimated). It ranks #381 of 1,211 Canada power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1937, it is around 89 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 52.8% of Canada's electricity; the national grid averages 191 gCO₂/kWh (77.0% low-carbon) (2025).

62Source-backed capacity
62,070homes powered (est.)
1937commissioned (~89 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CAN0008075.

Data status

Known data

FacilityMacKay WRI
CountryCanada · Ontario WRI
Coordinates47.2688, -84.4364 WRI
FuelHydro WRI
MW installed capacity62 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerBrookfield Renewable Power Inc WRI
Commissioned1937 WRI
Technologyconventional storage WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#381 of 1211 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#146 of 556 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers5.17× · 12 MW median · 556 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent62,070 calculated
Climate2.5°C · HDD 5,614 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC3 · 37/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.

capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100001022916); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 62 MW, MacKay is well above the median hydro plant in Canada (12 MW). Technically it is described as conventional storage. 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.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Canada

Robert-Bourassa: 5,616 MW6kRobert-Bou…Churchill Falls: 5,428 MW5kChurchill …La Grande-4: 2,779 MW3kLa Grande-4Mica: 2,746 MW3kMicaG.M. Shrum: 2,730 MW3kG.M. ShrumRevelstoke: 2,480 MW2kRevelstokeLa Grande-3: 2,417 MW2kLa Grande-3La Grande-2-A: 2,106 MW2kLa Grande-…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. 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 47.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

2.5°Cannual mean temp
5,614heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
453 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -13 °CJF: -11 °CFM: -6 °CMA: 1 °CAM: 9 °CMJ: 14 °CJJ: 16 °CJA: 16 °CAS: 11 °CSO: 5 °CON: -2 °CND: -9 °CD16 °C

Heating degree-days here run 128% 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: 97/100 — this site sits in the top 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.

Site climate & environmental severity

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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

C3ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
37/100environmental-severity index
29.9°Cseasonal temperature swing
23 kmdistance to coast

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #146 largest hydro power plant of 556 in Canada by capacity.

Canada has 556 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 81,037 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 47.2688, -84.4364 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is MacKay?

MacKay is a 62 MW source-record hydro power plant in Ontario, Canada, commissioned in 1937.

How many homes can MacKay power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 62,070 homes (estimated).

Who operates MacKay?

MacKay is operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.

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