Darling Downs is a 644 MW gas power station in Queensland, Australia. It is operated by Origin Energy. Based on reported annual generation of 2,245 GWh, it can supply roughly 642k homes. It ranks #31 of 536 Australia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2009, it is around 17 years old — relatively modern. In context, gas supplies about 16.4% of Australia's electricity; the national grid averages 525 gCO₂/kWh (38.6% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id AUS0000156.
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 L100000405110); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 644 MW, Darling Downs is well above the median gas plant in Australia (106 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.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Origin Energy. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 27.1°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 72% 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: 23/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~3% 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 a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness 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 #10 largest gas power plant of 163 in Australia by capacity.
Australia has 163 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 29,942 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -27.1169, 150.8942 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Darling Downs is a 644 MW source-record gas power plant in Queensland, Australia, commissioned in 2009.
Darling Downs generates about 2,245 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 641,514 homes.
Darling Downs is operated by Origin Energy.
