Gral. Agustín Olachea A. (Puerto San Carlos)

Gral. Agustín Olachea A. (Puerto San Carlos) is a 104 MW oil power station in Baja California Sur, Mexico. It is operated by CFE. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 78k homes (estimated). It ranks #180 of 366 Mexico power plants by installed capacity. Its modelled annual emissions are 123,751 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 29k cars driven for a year. In context, oil supplies about 9.4% of Mexico's electricity; the national grid averages 474 gCO₂/kWh (25.9% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id MEX0001851.

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 104 MW, Gral. Agustín Olachea A. (Puerto San Carlos) is below the median oil plant in Mexico (300 MW). Oil-fired plants burn heavy fuel oil or diesel, usually as peaking or backup capacity on islands and grids without gas pipelines; high fuel cost keeps their utilisation low.

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

~123,751 t CO₂/yr (modelled) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil plants in Mexico

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

Owner

Operated by CFE. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 24.8°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 93% 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: 16/100 — 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.

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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #23 largest oil power plant of 27 in Mexico by capacity.

Mexico has 27 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 12,022 MW of capacity.

Location

Coordinates 24.8147, -112.0916 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions