Coal power plant in Guatemala Department, Guatemala. Approximate location 14.5, -90.581.
CoalGuatemala DepartmentGuatemala
La Libertad is a 20 MW coal power plant in Guatemala Department, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 91 GWh, it can supply roughly 26k homes. It ranks #48 of 77 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2008, it is around 18 years old — relatively modern. In context, coal supplies about 15.8% of Guatemala's electricity; the national grid averages 301 gCO₂/kWh (68.3% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061417.
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 20 MW, La Libertad is below the median coal plant in Guatemala (139 MW). Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.
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).
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 14.5°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.
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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), 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 #6 largest coal power plant of 6 in Guatemala by capacity.
Guatemala has 6 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 856 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 14.5, -90.581 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
La Libertad is a 20 MW source-record coal power plant in Guatemala Department, Guatemala, commissioned in 2008.
La Libertad generates about 91 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 25,971 homes.
