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Utility Plants Section

Coal power plant in Alaska, United States of America. Approximate location 64.8256, -147.6486.

CoalAlaskaUnited States of America

Utility Plants Section is a 20 MW coal power plant in Alaska, United States of America. It is operated by Doyon Utilities - Ft. Wainwright. Based on reported annual generation of 71 GWh, it can supply roughly 20,342 homes. It ranks #3816 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1963, it is around 63 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

20MW installed capacity
71GWh reported / yr
20,342homes powered
1963commissioned (~63 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050308.

~71,200 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

16,597passenger cars driven for a year
9,285homes' yearly energy use
1,186,667tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2013: 135 GWh20132014: 71 GWh20142015: 119 GWh20152016: 106 GWh20162017: 106 GWh20172018: 90 GWh20182019: 71 GWh2019135 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Doyon Utilities - Ft. Wainwright.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a subarctic (boreal) climate (Köppen Dfc) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 64.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

-3.0°Cannual mean temp
7,646heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
138 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -23 °CJF: -19 °CFM: -11 °CMA: -1 °CAM: 8 °CMJ: 15 °CJJ: 16 °CJA: 13 °CAS: 7 °CSO: -4 °CON: -16 °CND: -21 °CD16 °C

Heating degree-days here run 211% 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: 100/100 — 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 #268 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 64.8256, -147.6486 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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