Oil power plant in Western Sahara, Western Sahara. Approximate location 27.15084, -13.19959.
OilWestern SaharaWestern SaharaEngine
Laayoune Diesel power plant is a 72 MW oil power plant in Western Sahara, Western Sahara. It is operated by Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable (Morocco) [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 54k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 2 Western Sahara power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2017, it is around 9 years old — relatively modern. In context, oil supplies about 100.0% of Western Sahara's electricity; the national grid averages 667 gCO₂/kWh (0.0% low-carbon) (2009).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_laayounediesel_wester.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
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 · 2026 · L100000408222; fuel: GEM GOGPT
Technically it is described as Engine. 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable (Morocco) [100%].
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 27.2°N — 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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion 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 oil power plant of 2 in Western Sahara by capacity.
Western Sahara has 2 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 95 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 27.15084, -13.19959 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Laayoune Diesel power plant is a 72 MW oil power plant in Western Sahara, Western Sahara, commissioned in 2017.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 54,061 homes (estimated).
Laayoune Diesel power plant is operated by Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable (Morocco) [100%].
