Biomass power plant in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Approximate location -33.315, 26.4908.
BiomassEastern CapeSouth Africa
Grahamstown is a 4 MW biomass power plant in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is operated by Nollen Group. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 4.8k homes (estimated). It ranks #149 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2013, it is around 13 years old — relatively modern. In context, biomass supplies about 0.2% of South Africa's electricity; the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1026028.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
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
At 4 MW, Grahamstown is below the median biomass plant in South Africa (19 MW). Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Nollen Group.
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 33.3°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 83% 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: 19/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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 corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), 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 #14 largest biomass power plant of 14 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 14 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 350 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -33.315, 26.4908 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Grahamstown is a 4 MW source-record biomass power plant in Eastern Cape, South Africa, commissioned in 2013.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 4,818 homes (estimated).
Grahamstown is operated by Nollen Group.
