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Upper Gotvand

Hydro power plant in Khuzestan, Iran. Approximate location 32.2607, 48.9241.

HydroKhuzestanIran

Upper Gotvand is a 1,016 MW hydro power station in Khuzestan, Iran. It is operated by Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1,017,161 homes (estimated). It ranks #16 of 107 Iran power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 3.3% of Iran's electricity; the national grid averages 660 gCO₂/kWh (5.7% low-carbon) (2025).

1,016MW installed capacity
1,017,161homes powered (est.)
2012commissioned (~14 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061133.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Iran

Karoune 3: 2,000 MW2kKaroune 3Masjed Soleyman: 2,000 MW2kMasjed Sol…Shahid Abbaspuor: 2,000 MW2kShahid Abb…Siahbishe: 1,040 MW1kSiahbisheUpper Gotvand: 1,016 MW1kUpper Gotv…Karoune 4: 765 MW765Karoune 4Dez: 520 MW520DezSeymareh: 480 MW480Seymareh

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

Owner

Operated by Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company. 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 hot semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 32.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

24.5°Cannual mean temp
541heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,920cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
308 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 11 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 17 °CMA: 24 °CAM: 29 °CMJ: 34 °CJJ: 37 °CJA: 36 °CAS: 33 °CSO: 27 °CON: 20 °CND: 13 °CD37 °C

Heating degree-days here run 78% 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: 21/100 — 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 #5 largest hydro power plant of 19 in Iran by capacity.

Iran has 19 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 10,858 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 32.2607, 48.9241 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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