Gas power plant in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Approximate location -33.80521, 25.692731.
GasEastern CapeSouth Africa
Karpowership Coega power station is a 450 MW gas power station in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is operated by Karpowership South Africa [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 507k homes (estimated). It ranks #44 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. In context, gas supplies about 0.0% 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 GOGPT_karpowershipcoega_southa.
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: GEM GOGPT; fuel: GEM GOGPT
At 450 MW, Karpowership Coega power station is below the median gas plant in South Africa (670 MW). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
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 Karpowership South Africa [100%].
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 33.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
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 #9 largest gas power plant of 15 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 15 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 19,062 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -33.80521, 25.692731 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Karpowership Coega power station is a 450 MW gas power plant in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 506,828 homes (estimated).
Karpowership Coega power station is operated by Karpowership South Africa [100%].
