Gas power plant in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Approximate location 22.4978, -97.9017.
GasTamaulipasMexicoCCGT · HRSG
Altamira II is a 495 MW gas power station in Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is operated by CFE/PIE. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 558k homes (estimated). It ranks #68 of 366 Mexico power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2002, it is around 24 years old — relatively modern. In context, gas supplies about 61.6% of Mexico's electricity; the national grid averages 474 gCO₂/kWh (25.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id MEX0001794.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000406184); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 495 MW, Altamira II is well above the median gas plant in Mexico (368 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by CFE/PIE. All plants by this company →
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 22.5°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 ~6% 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 #46 largest gas power plant of 129 in Mexico by capacity.
Mexico has 129 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 58,538 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 22.4978, -97.9017 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Altamira II is a 495 MW source-record gas power plant in Tamaulipas, Mexico, commissioned in 2002.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 557,511 homes (estimated).
Altamira II is operated by CFE/PIE.
