São Simão

São Simão is a 1,710 MW hydro power station in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1,711,954 homes (estimated). It ranks #11 of 2,549 Brazil power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1978, it is around 48 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 51.8% of Brazil's electricity; the national grid averages 110 gCO₂/kWh (88.7% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id BRA0002704.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Brazil

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 19.0°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #11 largest hydro power plant of 701 in Brazil by capacity.

Brazil has 701 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 98,039 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• São Simão · Biomass · 4 MW · Minas Gerais
• Vale do São Simão · Biomass · 55 MW · Minas Gerais
• Engenheiro José Luiz Muller de Godoy Pereira (Antiga Foz do Rio Claro) · Hydro · 68 MW · Minas Gerais
• Salto do Rio Verdinho · Hydro · 93 MW · Mato Grosso do Sul
• Cabrera · Biomass · 25 MW · Mato Grosso do Sul
• Vale do Pontal power station · Biomass · 25 MW · Mato Grosso do Sul

Location

Coordinates -19.0181, -50.4992 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.