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Cartagena (Escombreras) power station

Gas power plant in Murcia, Spain. Approximate location 37.5727, -0.9384.

GasMurciaSpainCO₂ reported

Cartagena (Escombreras) power station is a 1,249 MW gas power station in Murcia, Spain. It is operated by Naturgy Energy Group SA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1,406,392 homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 872 Spain power plants by installed capacity. Its measured emissions of 833,390 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 194,263 cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 21.6% of Spain's electricity; the national grid averages 154 gCO₂/kWh (74.6% low-carbon) (2025).

1,249MW installed capacity
1,406,392homes powered (est.)
833,390t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CT-253.

833,390 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

194,263passenger cars driven for a year
108,684homes' yearly energy use
13,889,833tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest gas plants in Spain

BESOS GRUPO 5: 1,671 MW2kBESOS GRU…ARCOS DE LA FRONTERA GRUPO 1: 1,585 MW2kARCOS DE L…CARTAGENA GRUPO 1: 1,249 MW1kCARTAGENA …Cartagena (Escombreras) power station: 1,249 MW1kCartagena …CCC SAGUNTO GRUPO 2: 1,232 MW1kCCC SAGUNT…ESCOMBRERAS GRUPO 1: 1,199 MW1kESCOMBRERA…El Fangal power station: 1,199 MW1kEl Fangal …PALOS DE LA FRONTERA GRUPO 1: 1,167 MW1kPALOS DE L…

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

Owner

Operated by Naturgy Energy Group SA. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

17.6°Cannual mean temp
962heating degree-days (base 18°C)
835cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
165 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 10 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 13 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 23 °CSO: 19 °CON: 14 °CND: 11 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 61% below 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: 26/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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.

A gas turbine here also runs ~2% 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #4 largest gas power plant of 68 in Spain by capacity.

Spain has 68 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 29,070 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 37.5727, -0.9384 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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