Biomass power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 37.5426, -122.2311.
BiomassCaliforniaUnited States of America
Silicon Valley Clean Water is a 1 MW biomass power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by Silicon Valley Clean Water. Based on reported annual generation of 6 GWh, it can supply roughly 1.8k homes. It ranks #10285 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. In context, biomass supplies about 1.0% 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 USA0060249.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 1 MW, Silicon Valley Clean Water is below the median biomass plant in United States of America (18 MW). Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Silicon Valley Clean Water.
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.5°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 51% 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: 29/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #170 largest biomass power plant of 184 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 184 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 6,324 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 37.5426, -122.2311 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Silicon Valley Clean Water is a 1 MW source-record biomass power plant in California, United States of America, commissioned in 2015.
Silicon Valley Clean Water generates about 6 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,800 homes.
Silicon Valley Clean Water is operated by Silicon Valley Clean Water.
