Wilson Dam

Hydro power plant in Alabama, United States of America. Approximate location 34.7978, -87.6254.

HydroAlabamaUnited States of America

Wilson Dam is a 667 MW hydro power station in Alabama, United States of America. It is operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. Based on reported annual generation of 3,045 GWh, it can supply roughly 870,028 homes. It ranks #539 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1942, it is around 84 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 5.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

667MW installed capacity
3,045GWh reported / yr
870,028homes powered
1942commissioned (~84 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006440.

Reported generation trend

2013: 3,539 GWh20132014: 2,448 GWh20142015: 2,684 GWh20152016: 1,809 GWh20162017: 2,521 GWh20172018: 2,923 GWh20182019: 3,045 GWh20194k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Tennessee Valley 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

15.7°Cannual mean temp
1,709heating degree-days (base 18°C)
875cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
167 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 4 °CJF: 6 °CFM: 11 °CMA: 16 °CAM: 20 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 16 °CON: 10 °CND: 6 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 30% 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: 38/100 — this site sits in the mid 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 #34 largest hydro power plant of 1449 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1449 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 101,657 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 34.7978, -87.6254 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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