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Shavano Falls Hydro Drop 4

Hydro power plant in Colorado, United States of America. Approximate location 38.4505, -107.7767.

HydroColoradoUnited States of America

Shavano Falls Hydro Drop 4 is a 5 MW hydro power plant in Colorado, United States of America. It is operated by Shavano Falls Hydro LLC - Drop 4 Project. Based on reported annual generation of 19 GWh, it can supply roughly 5,400 homes. It ranks #6212 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 5.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

5MW installed capacity
19GWh reported / yr
5,400homes powered
2015commissioned (~11 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0061190.

Reported generation trend

2016: 0 GWh20162017: 21 GWh20172018: 21 GWh20182019: 19 GWh201921 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Shavano Falls Hydro LLC - Drop 4 Project.

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 38.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

7.7°Cannual mean temp
3,866heating degree-days (base 18°C)
116cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
2,129 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -5 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 12 °CMJ: 17 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 15 °CSO: 9 °CON: 2 °CND: -4 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 57% 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: 83/100 — 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 #890 largest hydro power plant of 1449 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1449 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 101,657 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 38.4505, -107.7767 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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