Home / South America / Argentina / RIO GRANDE

RIO GRANDE

Hydro power plant in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Approximate location -53.7862, -67.7222.

HydroTierra del FuegoArgentina

RIO GRANDE is a 750 MW hydro power station in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. It is operated by EPEC. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 750,857 homes (estimated). It ranks #12 of 236 Argentina power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1986, it is around 40 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 17.1% of Argentina's electricity; the national grid averages 346 gCO₂/kWh (41.6% low-carbon) (2025).

750MW installed capacity
750,857homes powered (est.)
1986commissioned (~40 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id ARG0000104.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Argentina

YACYRETA: 1,550 MW2kYACYRETAPIEDRA DEL AGUILA (CPSA): 1,400 MW1kPIEDRA DEL…EL CHOCON: 1,200 MW1kEL CHOCONALICURA: 1,050 MW1kALICURASALTO GRANDE (MITAD ARGENTINA): 945 MW945SALTO GRAN…RIO GRANDE: 750 MW750RIO GRANDEFUTALEUFU: 472 MW472FUTALEUFUPLANICIE BANDERITA: 472 MW472PLANICIE B…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by EPEC. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 53.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.9°Cannual mean temp
4,422heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
27 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 11 °CJF: 10 °CFM: 9 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 3 °CMJ: 1 °CJJ: 0 °CJA: 2 °CAS: 4 °CSO: 6 °CON: 8 °CND: 10 °CD11 °C

Heating degree-days here run 80% 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: 90/100 — 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 #6 largest hydro power plant of 50 in Argentina by capacity.

Argentina has 50 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 10,000 MW of capacity.

Location

Coordinates -53.7862, -67.7222 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.