Bankhead Dam
Hydro power plant · Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Nameplate capacity
54 MW
Rank in Alabama
#57
of 80 plants
In service since
1963
July 1963
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Alabama Power Co
- County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Generating units
- 1
- Share of state capacity
- 0.16%
- Rank among hydro plants in Alabama
- #18 of 23
- EIA plant code
- 2
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 54 MW | 53 MW | 1963 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Alabama
| H Neely Henry Dam | Hydro | 73 MW |
| Alabama Pine Pulp | Other | 69 MW |
| Yates Dam | Hydro | 51 MW |
| Kimberly Clark Mobile - CHP Plant | Natural gas | 50 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 54 MW solar plant and a 54 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Alabama power plants · What Alabama actually generates