Ormesa I

Geothermal power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 32.8156, -115.2568.

GeothermalCaliforniaUnited States of America

Ormesa I is a 26 MW geothermal power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by Ormat Nevada Inc. Based on reported annual generation of 65 GWh, it can supply roughly 18,485 homes. It ranks #3405 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2001, it is around 25 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, geothermal supplies about 0.4% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

26MW installed capacity
65GWh reported / yr
18,485homes powered
2001commissioned (~25 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050766.

Reported generation trend

2013: 85 GWh20132014: 80 GWh20142015: 70 GWh20152016: 66 GWh20162017: 64 GWh20172018: 83 GWh20182019: 65 GWh201985 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Ormat Nevada Inc. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This geothermal plant taps underground heat to raise steam that drives a turbine. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 32.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

22.7°Cannual mean temp
467heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,210cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
14 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 13 °CJF: 15 °CFM: 18 °CMA: 21 °CAM: 25 °CMJ: 30 °CJJ: 34 °CJA: 33 °CAS: 30 °CSO: 24 °CON: 17 °CND: 12 °CD34 °C

Heating degree-days here run 81% 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: 20/100 — 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 #35 largest geothermal power plant of 65 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 65 geothermal power plants in this dataset, together about 3,889 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 32.8156, -115.2568 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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