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Smithland Hydroelectric Plant

Hydro power plant in Kentucky, United States of America. Approximate location 37.1696, -88.4195.

HydroKentuckyUnited States of America

Smithland Hydroelectric Plant is a 76 MW hydro power plant in Kentucky, United States of America. It is operated by American Mun Power-Ohio Inc. Based on reported annual generation of 181 GWh, it can supply roughly 51,600 homes. It ranks #2289 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2017, it is around 9 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).

76MW installed capacity
181GWh reported / yr
51,600homes powered
2017commissioned (~9 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0057400.

Reported generation trend

2017: 199 GWh20172018: 219 GWh20182019: 181 GWh2019219 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by American Mun Power-Ohio Inc. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.3°Cannual mean temp
2,129heating degree-days (base 18°C)
783cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
113 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 1 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 9 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 15 °CON: 9 °CND: 4 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 13% 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: 45/100 — 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 #227 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 37.1696, -88.4195 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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