South Plant

Oil power plant in Iowa, United States of America. Approximate location 42.7317, -92.4711.

OilIowaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

South Plant is a 12 MW oil power plant in Iowa, United States of America. It is operated by Waverly Municipal Elec Utility. Based on reported annual generation of 0 GWh, it can supply roughly 28 homes. It ranks #4377 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2000, it is around 26 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 7,881 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 1,837 cars driven for a year. In context, oil supplies about 0.7% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

12MW installed capacity
0GWh reported / yr
28homes powered
7,881t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
2000commissioned (~26 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0007758.

7,881 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,837passenger cars driven for a year
1,028homes' yearly energy use
131,350tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 0 GWh20132014: 0 GWh20142015: 0 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 0 GWh20190 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Waverly Municipal Elec Utility. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.3°Cannual mean temp
3,858heating degree-days (base 18°C)
343cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
277 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -9 °CJF: -5 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 9 °CAM: 16 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 23 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 10 °CON: 2 °CND: -6 °CD23 °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: 82/100 — 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 #306 largest oil power plant of 876 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 876 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 37,143 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 42.7317, -92.4711 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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