Palisades

Nuclear power plant in Michigan, United States of America. Approximate location 42.323, -86.3146.

NuclearMichiganUnited States of America

Palisades is a 812 MW nuclear power station in Michigan, United States of America. It is operated by Entergy Nuclear Palisades LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 6,865 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,961,485 homes. It ranks #416 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1972, it is around 54 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 17.4% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

812MW installed capacity
6,865GWh reported / yr
1,961,485homes powered
1972commissioned (~54 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001715.

Reported generation trend

2013: 6,042 GWh20132014: 5,823 GWh20142015: 6,318 GWh20152016: 7,045 GWh20162017: 6,098 GWh20172018: 5,456 GWh20182019: 6,865 GWh20197k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Entergy Nuclear Palisades LLC.

Local climate & thermal context

This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.3°Cannual mean temp
3,416heating degree-days (base 18°C)
270cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
203 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 14 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 11 °CON: 5 °CND: -2 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 39% 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: 74/100 — 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 #53 largest nuclear power plant of 58 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 58 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 104,233 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 42.323, -86.3146 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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