How many hydro power plants are in Minnesota?

Minnesota has 28 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 0.2 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.

What is the largest hydro power plant in Minnesota?

Thomson in Carlton County, Minnesota is the largest, at 73 MW. It came online in 1949.

How many hydro power plants were built in Minnesota in 2025?

0 hydro power plants came online in Minnesota in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.

Who is developing hydro power plants in Minnesota?

Interconnection queues list each project under a project company, not the developer behind it. Cleanview researches the developer of every project and has them on paid plans.

Hydro power plants in Minnesota

Minnesota has 28 operating hydro power plants with 0.2 GW of capacity.

Operating28

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Under 50 MW50–249 MW250 MW and up

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Minnesota had 27 hydro power plants online in 2016 and 28 in 2026

2016’162017’172018’182019’192020’202021’212022’222023’232024’242025’252026’26

Hydro power plants online at the end of each year. Source: EIA-860M, compiled by Cleanview.

The 10 largest hydro power plants in Minnesota

Operating, by capacity

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Thomson	Carlton County	1949	73 MW
2	Blanchard	Morrison County	1988	18 MW
3	Twin Cities Hydro LLC	Ramsey County	1924	18 MW
4	International Falls Power	Koochiching County	1946	14 MW
5	Hennepin Island	Hennepin County	1955	14 MW
6	Fond Du Lac	St Louis County	1924	12 MW
7	SAF Hydroelectric LLC	Hennepin County	2011	10 MW
8	Sartell Dam	Benton County	1985	9 MW
9	St. Cloud Hydro	Stearns County	1988	9 MW
10	Rapidan Hydro Facility	Blue Earth County	1984	7 MW

Hydro power plants that came online most recently in Minnesota

Newest first

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Byllesby	Dakota County	2026	4 MW
2	Redwood Falls	Redwood County	2013	1 MW
3	SAF Hydroelectric LLC	Hennepin County	2011	10 MW
4	Hastings City Hydroelectric	Dakota County	1992	4 MW
5	Blanchard	Morrison County	1988	18 MW
6	St. Cloud Hydro	Stearns County	1988	9 MW
7	Granite Falls	Chippewa County	1986	1 MW
8	Sartell Dam	Benton County	1985	9 MW
9	Rochester Hydro	Wabasha County	1984	3 MW
10	Rapidan Hydro Facility	Blue Earth County	1984	7 MW

The developer behind each project is on paid plans. See plans

How Cleanview tracks hydro power plants

Operating hydro power plants come from the EIA's monthly survey of power plants. Planned projects come from the grid operators' interconnection queues. We research who is developing each one, since a queue lists a project company, not its owner.

Questions about hydro power plants in Minnesota

How many hydro power plants are in Minnesota?: Minnesota has 28 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 0.2 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.
What is the largest hydro power plant in Minnesota?: Thomson in Carlton County, Minnesota is the largest, at 73 MW. It came online in 1949.
How many hydro power plants were built in Minnesota in 2025?: 0 hydro power plants came online in Minnesota in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.
Who is developing hydro power plants in Minnesota?: Interconnection queues list each project under a project company, not the developer behind it. Cleanview researches the developer of every project and has them on paid plans.