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Aberthaw B

Coal power plant in Wales, United Kingdom. Approximate location 51.3873, -3.4049.

CoalWalesUnited Kingdom

Aberthaw B is a 1,586 MW coal power station in Wales, United Kingdom. It is operated by RWE Npower Plc. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1,984,765 homes (estimated). It ranks #10 of 2,751 United Kingdom power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 0.1% of United Kingdom's electricity; the national grid averages 217 gCO₂/kWh (64.4% low-carbon) (2025).

1,586MW installed capacity
1,984,765homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GBR1000374.

~6,946,680 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,619,273passenger cars driven for a year
905,931homes' yearly energy use
115,778,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 50% load factor × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Capacity vs largest coal plants in United Kingdom

West Burton: 2,012 MW2kWest BurtonCottam: 2,008 MW2kCottamRatcliffe: 2,000 MW2kRatcliffeDrax: 1,980 MW2kDraxEggborough: 1,960 MW2kEggboroughAberthaw B: 1,586 MW2kAberthaw BKilroot: 520 MW520KilrootUskmouth Power: 230 MW230Uskmouth P…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by RWE Npower Plc. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 51.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.2°Cannual mean temp
2,840heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
63 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 5 °CJF: 5 °CFM: 7 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 11 °CMJ: 14 °CJJ: 16 °CJA: 16 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 11 °CON: 8 °CND: 6 °CD16 °C

Heating degree-days here run 16% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 58/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #6 largest coal power plant of 8 in United Kingdom by capacity.

United Kingdom has 8 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 12,296 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 51.3873, -3.4049 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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