How many hydro power plants are in North Carolina?

North Carolina has 39 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 2.0 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.

What is the largest hydro power plant in North Carolina?

Cowans Ford in Lincoln County, North Carolina is the largest, at 350 MW. It came online in 1967.

How many hydro power plants were built in North Carolina in 2025?

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

Who is developing hydro power plants in North Carolina?

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 North Carolina

North Carolina has 39 operating hydro power plants with 2.0 GW of capacity.

Operating39

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Under 50 MW50–249 MW250 MW and up

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

North Carolina had 39 hydro power plants online in 2016 and 39 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 North Carolina

Operating, by capacity

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Cowans Ford	Lincoln County	1967	350 MW
2	Fontana Dam	Swain County	1954	255 MW
3	Gaston	Halifax County	1963	178 MW
4	Hiwassee Dam	Cherokee County	1956	166 MW
5	Cheoah	Graham County	2013	140 MW
6	Narrows (NC)	Stanly County	1924	109 MW
7	Walters	Haywood County	1930	108 MW
8	Roanoke Rapids	Halifax County	1955	100 MW
9	Tillery	Montgomery County	1960	84 MW
10	Mountain Island	Gaston County	1923	60 MW

Hydro power plants that came online most recently in North Carolina

Newest first

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Cheoah	Graham County	2013	140 MW
2	Jordan Hydroelectric Project	Chatham County	2012	4 MW
3	Bridgewater	Burke County	2011	28 MW
4	Avalon Hydropower	ROCKINGHAM County	2000	1 MW
5	Turner Shoals	Polk County	1996	5 MW
6	Metropolitan Sewerage District	Buncombe County	1988	2 MW
7	Ivy River Hydro	Madison County	1985	1 MW
8	Marshall Dam	Madison County	1985	5 MW
9	Haw River Hydro	Alamance County	1982	2 MW
10	Cowans Ford	Lincoln County	1967	350 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 North Carolina

How many hydro power plants are in North Carolina?: North Carolina has 39 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 2.0 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.
What is the largest hydro power plant in North Carolina?: Cowans Ford in Lincoln County, North Carolina is the largest, at 350 MW. It came online in 1967.
How many hydro power plants were built in North Carolina in 2025?: 0 hydro power plants came online in North Carolina in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.
Who is developing hydro power plants in North Carolina?: 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.