Swan Falls

Hydro power plant in Idaho, United States of America. Approximate location 43.2435, -116.3791.

HydroIdahoUnited States of America

Swan Falls is a 25 MW hydro power plant in Idaho, United States of America. It is operated by Idaho Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 134 GWh, it can supply roughly 38,371 homes. It ranks #3466 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1994, it is around 32 years old — long-established. 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).

25MW installed capacity
134GWh reported / yr
38,371homes powered
1994commissioned (~32 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000819.

Reported generation trend

2013: 108 GWh20132014: 111 GWh20142015: 111 GWh20152016: 113 GWh20162017: 130 GWh20172018: 124 GWh20182019: 134 GWh2019134 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Idaho Power Co. 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 cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 43.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.0°Cannual mean temp
2,913heating degree-days (base 18°C)
390cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
901 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -1 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 6 °CMA: 10 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 23 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 11 °CON: 4 °CND: -1 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 19% 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: 60/100 — 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 #435 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 43.2435, -116.3791 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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