Home / Asia / Saudi Arabia / Jeddah PP3 power plant

Jeddah PP3 power plant

Oil power plant in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Approximate location 21.4327, 39.2043.

OilMakkahSaudi ArabiaOCGTCO₂ modelled

Jeddah PP3 power plant is a 1,988 MW oil power station in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It is operated by Saudi Electricity Co. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1.5 million homes (estimated). It ranks #25 of 156 Saudi Arabia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1984, it is around 42 years old — long-established. Its modelled annual emissions are 5,048,900 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 1.2 million cars driven for a year. In context, oil supplies about 34.5% of Saudi Arabia's electricity; the national grid averages 692 gCO₂/kWh (2.2% low-carbon) (2024).

1,988Source-backed capacity
1,492,328homes powered (est.)
5,048,900t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1984commissioned (~42 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CT-6416.

Data status

Known data

FacilityJeddah PP3 power plant Climate TRACE
CountrySaudi Arabia · Makkah Climate TRACE
Coordinates21.4327, 39.2043 Climate TRACE
FuelOil Climate TRACE
MW installed capacity1,988 MW Climate TRACE source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerSaudi Electricity Co Climate TRACE
Commissioned1984 Climate TRACE
TechnologyOCGT Climate TRACE

Modelled source data

CO₂ emissions5,048,900 t CO₂/yr modelled · Climate TRACE

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#25 of 156 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#8 of 76 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers5.45× · 365 MW median · 76 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent1,492,328 calculated
Climate28.8°C · HDD 0 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC5 · 61/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 1,256 MW for Jeddah PP3 power plant, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: B_SCOPE_PARENT_COMPLEX - recommended action: build_parent_complex_model - confidence: not_comparable_without_scope. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.

Data provenance

The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.

capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000409133); fuel: Climate TRACE source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 1,988 MW, Jeddah PP3 power plant is well above the median oil plant in Saudi Arabia (365 MW). Technically it is described as OCGT. 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.

~5,048,900 t CO₂/yr (modelled) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1.2 millionpassenger cars driven for a year
658khomes' yearly energy use
84 milliontree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Capacity vs largest oil plants in Saudi Arabia

SHAIBA (SEC): 6,794 MW7kSHAIBA (SE…RABIGH: 4,480 MW4kRABIGHRiyadh 9: 3,760 MW4kRiyadh 9Riyadh 10: 3,161 MW3kRiyadh 10RABIGH-2: 2,800 MW3kRABIGH-2JEDDAH SOUTH: 2,640 MW3kJEDDAH SOU…Shuqaiq Steam Power Plant: 2,640 MW3kShuqaiq St…Jeddah PP3 power plant: 1,988 MW2kJeddah PP3…

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

Owner

Operated by Saudi Electricity Co. 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 21.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

28.8°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
3,956cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
43 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 24 °CJF: 24 °CFM: 26 °CMA: 28 °CAM: 31 °CMJ: 32 °CJJ: 33 °CJA: 33 °CAS: 32 °CSO: 30 °CON: 28 °CND: 25 °CD33 °C

This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.

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.

C5ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
61/100environmental-severity index
9.7°Cseasonal temperature swing
26 kmdistance to coast

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 #8 largest oil power plant of 76 in Saudi Arabia by capacity.

Saudi Arabia has 76 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 61,625 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 21.4327, 39.2043 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Jeddah PP3 power plant?

Jeddah PP3 power plant is a 1,988 MW source-record oil power plant in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, commissioned in 1984.

How many homes can Jeddah PP3 power plant power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,492,328 homes (estimated).

Who operates Jeddah PP3 power plant?

Jeddah PP3 power plant is operated by Saudi Electricity Co.

How much CO₂ does Jeddah PP3 power plant emit?

Jeddah PP3 power plant has modelled emissions of about 5,048,900 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.