Gas power plant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Approximate location 24.4348, 54.4876.
GasAbu DhabiUnited Arab EmiratesOCGTCO₂ modelled
Al Nakheel power station is a 2,353 MW gas power station in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is operated by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2.7 million homes (estimated). It ranks #10 of 60 United Arab Emirates power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2003, it is around 23 years old — relatively modern. Its modelled annual emissions are 3,795,900 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 885k cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 68.3% of United Arab Emirates's electricity; the national grid averages 468 gCO₂/kWh (31.7% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CT-6514.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: Climate TRACE source-record capacity (modelled/legacy); fuel: Climate TRACE source-record fuel
At 2,353 MW, Al Nakheel power station is well above the median gas plant in United Arab Emirates (969 MW). Technically it is described as OCGT. Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC.
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 24.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.
A gas turbine here also runs ~9% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #9 largest gas power plant of 44 in United Arab Emirates by capacity.
United Arab Emirates has 44 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 57,334 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 24.4348, 54.4876 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Al Nakheel power station is a 2,353 MW source-record gas power plant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, commissioned in 2003.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 2,650,150 homes (estimated).
Al Nakheel power station is operated by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC.
Al Nakheel power station has modelled emissions of about 3,795,900 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).
