Melk is a 187 MW hydro power station in Lower Austria, Austria. It is operated by Verbund. Based on reported annual generation of 1,277 GWh, it can supply roughly 364,857 homes. It ranks #22 of 118 Austria power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1982, it is around 44 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 51.8% of Austria's electricity; the national grid averages 117 gCO₂/kWh (83.6% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1005211.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Verbund. All plants by this company →
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 48.2°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 42% 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: 75/100 — 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.
The #17 largest hydro power plant of 96 in Austria by capacity.
Austria has 96 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 9,072 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 48.2232, 15.3042 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
