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Point Beach Nuclear Plant

Nuclear power plant in Wisconsin, United States of America. Approximate location 44.2806, -87.5369.

NuclearWisconsinUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Point Beach Nuclear Plant is a 1,311 MW nuclear power station in Wisconsin, United States of America. It is operated by NextEra Energy Point Beach LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 10,030 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,865,714 homes. It ranks #197 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1971, it is around 55 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its measured emissions of 16,421 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 3,828 cars driven for a year. 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).

1,311MW installed capacity
10,030GWh reported / yr
2,865,714homes powered
16,421t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1971commissioned (~55 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0004046.

16,421 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

3,828passenger cars driven for a year
2,141homes' yearly energy use
273,683tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 9,942 GWh20132014: 9,447 GWh20142015: 10,008 GWh20152016: 10,151 GWh20162017: 9,649 GWh20172018: 10,129 GWh20182019: 10,030 GWh201910k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by NextEra Energy Point Beach LLC.

Local climate & thermal context

This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 44.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

7.7°Cannual mean temp
3,838heating degree-days (base 18°C)
101cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
175 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 5 °CAM: 10 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 10 °CON: 4 °CND: -1 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 56% 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: 82/100 — 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 #36 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 44.2806, -87.5369 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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