Hydropower Capacity Factor Trends and Analytics for the United States

Dataset Overview

This dataset contains all code, input data, and data generated for Turner et al. (2024)—“Hydropower capacity factors trending down in the United States”. File descriptions:

• hydro-cf-trends-inputs.zip: Full set of input data used in this study, organized for direct entry into “/data” directory of hydro-cf-trends data processing pipeline. 
• hydro-cf-trends-1.0.0.zip: Full data processing pipeline, coded using the R {targets} framework. This is a snapshot release (v1.0.0) of the code repository stored at https://code.ornl.gov/turnersw/hydro-cf-trends/.
• hydro-cf-trends-results.zip: Provides all dam level results required to reproduce results and graphics in Turner et al. (2024). Dams are identified by the “complxID” (root of the hydropower plant ID in the Existing Hydropower Assets Database, inherited from HILARRI). Results include:
  • Table of long-term trends in annualized capacity factors for 610 dams (based on 1980 – 2022)
  • Table of long-term trends in annualized modeled capacity factors for 362 modeled dams (based on 1980 – 2019).
  • Annualized time series (1980 – 2022) for 610 plants:
    • Reported nameplate capacity (MW),
    • Implied maximum annual generation (MWh),
    • Reported net generation (MWh),
    • Computed annual capacity factor.
  • Modeled CF (362 plants) usin gauge-assimilated and naturalized flow (362 plants).