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Wailoa

Hydro power plant in Western, Fiji. Approximate location -17.7569, 178.0498.

HydroWesternFiji

Wailoa is a 160 MW hydro power station in Western, Fiji. It is operated by Fiji Electricity Authority. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 160,182 homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 12 Fiji power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1983, it is around 43 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 52.2% of Fiji's electricity; the national grid averages 278 gCO₂/kWh (63.5% low-carbon) (2024).

160MW installed capacity
160,182homes powered (est.)
1983commissioned (~43 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061469.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Fiji

Wailoa: 160 MW160WailoaNadarivatu: 40 MW40NadarivatuWainikasaou: 6 MW6WainikasaouVaturu: 3 MW3Vaturu

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

Owner

Operated by Fiji Electricity Authority. 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 tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 17.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

22.0°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,463cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
564 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 24 °CJF: 24 °CFM: 24 °CMA: 23 °CAM: 22 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 22 °CON: 22 °CND: 23 °CD24 °C

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 #1 largest hydro power plant of 4 in Fiji by capacity.

Fiji has 4 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 209 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -17.7569, 178.0498 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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