Geothermal power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 33.1633, -115.6167.
GeothermalCaliforniaUnited States of America
Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company is a 40 MW geothermal power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by CalEnergy Operating Corporation. Based on reported annual generation of 239 GWh, it can supply roughly 68k homes. It ranks #4023 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1986, it is around 40 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, geothermal supplies about 0.4% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050210.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: Wikidata P2109 nameplate capacity; fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 40 MW, Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company is well above the median geothermal plant in United States of America (30 MW). Geothermal plants tap underground heat to raise steam for a turbine; they provide steady, low-carbon baseload but are limited to geologically active regions.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by CalEnergy Operating Corporation. All plants by this company →
This geothermal plant taps underground heat to raise steam that drives a turbine. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 33.2°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 82% 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: 20/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #29 largest geothermal power plant of 65 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 65 geothermal power plants in this dataset, together about 3,889 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 33.1633, -115.6167 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company is a 40 MW source-record geothermal power plant in California, United States of America, commissioned in 1986.
Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company generates about 239 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 68,171 homes.
Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company is operated by CalEnergy Operating Corporation.
