World Power Plants

Prairie River is a 1 MW hydro power plant in the United States, operated by ALLETE Inc. since 1920. Ranked #1429 of 1469 hydro plants in the United States. Its 1 MW represents 0.0008% of the country's total hydro capacity of 117,947 MW. The largest hydro plant in the United States is Grand Coulee Dam at 6,809 MW, making Prairie River 6,809 times smaller. Nearby plants include Clay Boswell Power Plant (923.3 MW, Coal) and Rapids Energy Center (28.4 MW, Coal). The facility is located in Minnesota, approximately 125 km northwest of Duluth.

Capacity
1 MW
Commissioning Year
1920

106 years old

Owner
ALLETE Inc.
Location
47.2872°, -93.4983°

United States of America, North America

Context & rankings
  • 9,554. largest of 10,098 plants in United States of America
  • #37,569 worldwide by installed capacity
  • #8,086 of 8,493 Hydroelectric plants worldwide
Age & fleet comparison

106 years in operation

Hydroelectric fleet average: 42.1 years

Operator portfolio

ALLETE Inc. operates 20 plants totalling 1,950 MW

Regional density

6 plants within 100 km, 1,962 MW combined

Nearest plant: Rapids Energy Center (6.5 km)

Location

Coordinates:: 47.287200, -93.498300
Open in Google Maps
Carbon Footprint

Zero Direct Emissions

Prairie River is a hydro power plant producing approximately 4 GWh of clean electricity per year with zero direct CO₂ emissions during operation.

Lifecycle emissions: ~24 g CO₂/kWh (manufacturing, transport, decommissioning)

Technical Details

Primary Fuel Type
Hydro
Energy Source
Renewable
Country
United States of America
Continent
North America
Data Source
Global Power Plant Database

United States of AmericaEnergy Profile

10,098
Total Plants
1420.7 GW
Total Capacity
GasCoalNuclearWind
Top Fuels

See Incorrect or Missing Data?

Help us improve our database by reporting any corrections or updates. Your contribution helps keep our global power plant data accurate and up-to-date.