Nuclear power plant in Minnesota, United States of America. Approximate location 44.622, -92.6333.
NuclearMinnesotaUnited States of America
Prairie Island is a 1,186 MW nuclear power station in Minnesota, United States of America. It is operated by Northern States Power Co - Minnesota. Based on reported annual generation of 9,140 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,611,428 homes. It ranks #242 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001925.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Northern States Power Co - Minnesota. All plants by this company →
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 44.6°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 76% 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: 89/100 — 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 #45 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.
Coordinates 44.622, -92.6333 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
