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NSB Wainwright Utility

Oil power plant in Alaska, United States of America. Approximate location 70.6429, -160.0205.

OilAlaskaUnited States of America

NSB Wainwright Utility is a 3 MW oil power plant in Alaska, United States of America. It is operated by North Slope Borough Power & Light. Based on reported annual generation of 7 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,000 homes. It ranks #7151 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1995, it is around 31 years old — long-established. In context, oil supplies about 0.7% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

3MW installed capacity
7GWh reported / yr
2,000homes powered
1995commissioned (~31 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0007488.

~5,250 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,224passenger cars driven for a year
685homes' yearly energy use
87,500tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical oil emission factor (~750 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2013: 6 GWh20132014: 6 GWh20142015: 7 GWh20152016: 7 GWh20162017: 7 GWh20172018: 7 GWh20182019: 7 GWh20197 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by North Slope Borough Power & Light. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a polar tundra climate (Köppen ET) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 70.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

-10.8°Cannual mean temp
10,468heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
12 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -25 °CJF: -27 °CFM: -26 °CMA: -17 °CAM: -5 °CMJ: 4 °CJJ: 8 °CJA: 6 °CAS: 2 °CSO: -8 °CON: -17 °CND: -24 °CD8 °C

Heating degree-days here run 326% 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: 100/100 — 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 #649 largest oil power plant of 876 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 876 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 37,143 MW of capacity.

Location

Coordinates 70.6429, -160.0205 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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