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El Nispero

Hydro power plant in Santa Barbara, Honduras. Approximate location 14.7792, -88.3486.

HydroSanta BarbaraHonduras

El Nispero is a 22 MW hydro power plant in Santa Barbara, Honduras. It is operated by Empresa Nacional De Energia Electrica. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 23k homes (estimated). It ranks #34 of 47 Honduras power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 30.4% of Honduras's electricity; the national grid averages 322 gCO₂/kWh (55.4% low-carbon) (2024).

22Legacy source-record capacity
22,525homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1029357.

Data status

Known data

FacilityEl Nispero WRI
CountryHonduras · Santa Barbara WRI
Coordinates14.7792, -88.3486 WRI
FuelHydro WRI
MW installed capacity22 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerEmpresa Nacional De Energia Electrica WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#34 of 47 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#5 of 12 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers1.76× · 13 MW median · 12 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent22,525 calculated
Climate23.4°C · HDD 0 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC4 · 39/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

CommissionedNot available not in dataset
TechnologyNot available not in dataset
GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

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: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 22 MW, El Nispero is well above the median hydro plant in Honduras (13 MW). Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Honduras

Fransisco Morazan (el Cajon): 300 MW300Fransisco …Rio Lindo: 109 MW109Rio LindoNacaome: 30 MW30NacaomeCanaveral: 29 MW29CanaveralEl Nispero: 22 MW22El NisperoCuyamapa: 13 MW13CuyamapaLa Esperanza: 13 MW13La Esperan…Cuyamel: 8 MW8Cuyamel

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

Owner

Operated by Empresa Nacional De Energia Electrica. All plants by this company →

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 14.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

23.4°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,962cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
683 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 22 °CJF: 22 °CFM: 24 °CMA: 25 °CAM: 25 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 24 °CSO: 23 °CON: 22 °CND: 21 °CD25 °C

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.

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.

Site climate & environmental severity

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 corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

C4ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
39/100environmental-severity index
4.1°Cseasonal temperature swing
125 kmdistance to coast

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #5 largest hydro power plant of 12 in Honduras by capacity.

Honduras has 12 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 544 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 14.7792, -88.3486 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is El Nispero?

El Nispero is a 22 MW source-record hydro power plant in Santa Barbara, Honduras.

How many homes can El Nispero power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 22,525 homes (estimated).

Who operates El Nispero?

El Nispero is operated by Empresa Nacional De Energia Electrica.

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