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Hassi Messoud

Gas power plant in Ouargla, Algeria. Approximate location 31.6703, 6.0531.

GasOuarglaAlgeria

Hassi Messoud is a 600 MW gas power station in Ouargla, Algeria. It is operated by Sonelgaz Production de l'Electricite. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 675,771 homes (estimated). It ranks #8 of 59 Algeria power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. In context, gas supplies about 98.6% of Algeria's electricity; the national grid averages 633 gCO₂/kWh (1.1% low-carbon) (2024).

600MW installed capacity
675,771homes powered (est.)
2015commissioned (~11 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023779.

~946,080 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

220,531passenger cars driven for a year
123,380homes' yearly energy use
15,768,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 45% load factor × a typical gas emission factor (~400 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Capacity vs largest gas plants in Algeria

Hadjret Ennous: 1,200 MW1kHadjret En…Koudiet Eddraouch: 1,200 MW1kKoudiet Ed…Terga: 1,200 MW1kTergaMsila 1: 980 MW980Msila 1Marsat: 840 MW840MarsatSKS IPP SNC Lavalin: 815 MW815SKS IPP SN…Ras Djinet: 672 MW672Ras DjinetHassi Messoud: 600 MW600Hassi Mess…

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

Owner

Operated by Sonelgaz Production de l'Electricite. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 31.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

23.5°Cannual mean temp
520heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,547cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
151 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 11 °CJF: 14 °CFM: 18 °CMA: 23 °CAM: 28 °CMJ: 33 °CJJ: 35 °CJA: 35 °CAS: 31 °CSO: 24 °CON: 17 °CND: 12 °CD35 °C

Heating degree-days here run 79% 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: 21/100 — 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.

A gas turbine here also runs ~6% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

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 #8 largest gas power plant of 31 in Algeria by capacity.

Algeria has 31 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 15,179 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 31.6703, 6.0531 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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