How many hydro power plants are in South Carolina?

South Carolina has 33 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 4.4 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.

What is the largest hydro power plant in South Carolina?

Bad Creek in Oconee County, South Carolina is the largest, at 1,680 MW. It came online in 1991.

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

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

Who is developing hydro power plants in South 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 South Carolina

South Carolina has 33 operating hydro power plants with 4.4 GW of capacity.

Operating33

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Under 50 MW50–249 MW250 MW and up

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

South Carolina had 33 hydro power plants online in 2016 and 33 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 South Carolina

Operating, by capacity

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Bad Creek	Oconee County	1991	1,680 MW
2	Jocassee	Pickens County	1975	774 MW
3	Fairfield Pumped Storage	Fairfield County	1978	587 MW
4	J Strom Thurmond	McCormick County	1954	362 MW
5	Saluda Lexington	Lexington County	1971	207 MW
6	Keowee	Pickens County	1971	158 MW
7	Jefferies	Berkeley County	1942	145 MW
8	Wateree Hydro	Kershaw County	1919	91 MW
9	St Stephen	Berkeley County	1985	84 MW
10	Wylie	York County	1925	60 MW

Hydro power plants that came online most recently in South Carolina

Newest first

#	Hydro power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Upper Pacolet Hydro	Spartanburg County	2013	1 MW
2	Hollidays Bridge Hydro	Anderson County	1996	4 MW
3	Boyds Mill Hydro	Greenville County	1996	1 MW
4	Saluda Dam	Greenville County	1996	2 MW
5	Bad Creek	Oconee County	1991	1,680 MW
6	Pelzer Lower	Anderson County	1989	3 MW
7	Pelzer Upper	Anderson County	1989	2 MW
8	Piedmont Hydro Power Project	Greenville County	1989	1 MW
9	Clifton Dam 3 Power Station	Spartanburg County	1987	1 MW
10	Ware Shoals Hydro Project	Laurens County	1986	6 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 South Carolina

How many hydro power plants are in South Carolina?: South Carolina has 33 operating utility-scale hydro power plants with 4.4 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.
What is the largest hydro power plant in South Carolina?: Bad Creek in Oconee County, South Carolina is the largest, at 1,680 MW. It came online in 1991.
How many hydro power plants were built in South Carolina in 2025?: 0 hydro power plants came online in South Carolina in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.
Who is developing hydro power plants in South 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.