R D Green

Coal power plant in Kentucky, United States of America. Approximate location 37.6461, -87.5.

CoalKentuckyUnited States of America

R D Green is a 586 MW coal power station in Kentucky, United States of America. It is operated by Big Rivers Electric Corp. Based on reported annual generation of 2,344 GWh, it can supply roughly 669,857 homes. It ranks #638 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1980, it is around 46 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

586MW installed capacity
2,344GWh reported / yr
669,857homes powered
1980commissioned (~46 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006639.

~2,344,500 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

546,503passenger cars driven for a year
305,751homes' yearly energy use
39,075,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 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: 3,375 GWh20132014: 3,463 GWh20142015: 2,584 GWh20152016: 2,736 GWh20162017: 2,410 GWh20172018: 3,059 GWh20182019: 2,344 GWh20193k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Big Rivers Electric Corp. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.6°Cannual mean temp
2,266heating degree-days (base 18°C)
699cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
127 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 0 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 8 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 25 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 21 °CSO: 15 °CON: 8 °CND: 3 °CD25 °C

Heating degree-days here run 8% 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: 47/100 — this site sits in the mid 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 #154 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 37.6461, -87.5 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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