Kourou — French Guiana
Biomass power plant in Guyane, French Guiana. Approximate location 5.1636, -52.6702.
BiomassGuyaneFrench Guiana
Kourou is a 2 MW biomass power plant in Guyane, French Guiana. It is operated by Électricité de France. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2.8k homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 6 French Guiana power plants by installed capacity. In context, biomass supplies about 6.1% of French Guiana's electricity; the national grid averages 245 gCO₂/kWh (65.3% low-carbon) (2023).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023511.
Data status
Known data
Calculated from dataset
Not available
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
Data provenance
Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.
capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD
In context: how this plant compares
Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Owner
Operated by Électricité de France.
Local climate & thermal context
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 5.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
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
This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
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
French Guiana has 1 biomass power plant in this dataset, together about 2 MW of capacity.
Nearby power plants
Location
Coordinates 5.1636, -52.6702 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is Kourou?
Kourou is a 2 MW biomass power plant in Guyane, French Guiana.
Who operates Kourou?
Kourou is operated by Électricité de France.