Winyah

Coal power plant in South Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 33.3318, -79.3572.

CoalSouth CarolinaUnited States of America

Winyah is a 1,260 MW coal power station in South Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by South Carolina Public Service Authority. Based on reported annual generation of 712 GWh, it can supply roughly 203,514 homes. It ranks #213 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1978, it is around 48 years old — long-established. 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).

1,260MW installed capacity
712GWh reported / yr
203,514homes powered
1978commissioned (~48 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006249.

~712,300 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

166,037passenger cars driven for a year
92,893homes' yearly energy use
11,871,667tree 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: 1,289 GWh20132014: 4,690 GWh20142015: 3,911 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 1,214 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 712 GWh20195k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by South Carolina Public Service Authority. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 33.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

18.1°Cannual mean temp
1,027heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,064cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
2 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 8 °CJF: 10 °CFM: 14 °CMA: 17 °CAM: 21 °CMJ: 25 °CJJ: 27 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 24 °CSO: 19 °CON: 14 °CND: 10 °CD27 °C

Heating degree-days here run 58% 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: 26/100 — 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 #82 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 33.3318, -79.3572 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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