Tarbela is a 3,478 MW hydro power station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is operated by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 3,481,974 homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 62 Pakistan power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 20.2% of Pakistan's electricity; the national grid averages 347 gCO₂/kWh (54.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1001657.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). All plants by this company →
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 34.1°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 69% 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: 24/100 — 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.
The #1 largest hydro power plant of 13 in Pakistan by capacity.
Pakistan has 13 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 7,990 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 34.0889, 72.6861 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
