Waste power plant in North-West, South Africa. Approximate location -25.662, 27.837.
WasteNorth-WestSouth Africa
Hernic Waste Heat Plant is a 26 MW waste power plant in North-West, South Africa. It is operated by Hernic Ferrochrome. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 35k homes (estimated). It ranks #119 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2013, it is around 13 years old — relatively modern. In context, the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1026032.
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 26 MW, Hernic Waste Heat Plant is well above the median waste plant in South Africa (4 MW). Waste-to-energy plants burn municipal solid waste to generate electricity and heat, cutting landfill volume while recovering energy from residual waste.
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 Hernic Ferrochrome.
This waste plant recovers energy by combusting municipal or industrial waste. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 25.7°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 75% 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: 22/100 — 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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), 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 #1 largest waste power plant of 6 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 6 waste power plants in this dataset, together about 43 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -25.662, 27.837 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Hernic Waste Heat Plant is a 26 MW source-record waste power plant in North-West, South Africa, commissioned in 2013.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 35,102 homes (estimated).
Hernic Waste Heat Plant is operated by Hernic Ferrochrome.
