Hydro power plant in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Approximate location 14.65, -91.573.
HydroQuetzaltenangoGuatemala
El Recreo is a 26 MW hydro power plant in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 99 GWh, it can supply roughly 28,314 homes. It ranks #42 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2007, it is around 19 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061393.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
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 14.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
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.
The #10 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.
Coordinates 14.65, -91.573 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
