Home / North America / Guatemala / El Cobano

El Cobano

Hydro power plant in Escuintla, Guatemala. Approximate location 14.18, -90.603.

HydroEscuintlaGuatemala

El Cobano is a 11 MW hydro power plant in Escuintla, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 27 GWh, it can supply roughly 7,771 homes. It ranks #58 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 39.9% of Guatemala's electricity; the national grid averages 301 gCO₂/kWh (68.3% low-carbon) (2024).

11MW installed capacity
27GWh reported / yr
7,771homes powered
2015commissioned (~11 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061390.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Guatemala

Chixoy: 300 MW300ChixoyXacbal: 94 MW94XacbalAguacapa: 90 MW90AguacapaPalo Viejo: 85 MW85Palo ViejoRenace: 68 MW68RenaceJurun Marinala: 60 MW60Jurun Mari…El Canada: 48 MW48El CanadaLas Vacas: 39 MW39Las Vacas

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

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 14.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

27.0°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
3,269cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
116 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 26 °CJF: 26 °CFM: 27 °CMA: 28 °CAM: 28 °CMJ: 27 °CJJ: 27 °CJA: 27 °CAS: 27 °CSO: 27 °CON: 26 °CND: 26 °CD28 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — 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.

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 #18 largest hydro power plant of 30 in Guatemala by capacity.

Guatemala has 30 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 1,008 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 14.18, -90.603 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.