Gas power plant in Mendoza, Argentina. Approximate location -33.0551, -68.981.
GasMendozaArgentinaCCGT · HRSG
LUJAN DE CUYO is a 521 MW gas power station in Mendoza, Argentina. It is operated by CT MENDOZA SA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 587k homes (estimated). It ranks #29 of 275 Argentina power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1988, it is around 38 years old — long-established. In context, gas supplies about 52.7% of Argentina's electricity; the national grid averages 346 gCO₂/kWh (41.6% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id ARG0000198.
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 tracker 2026 (location L100000406449); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 521 MW, LUJAN DE CUYO is well above the median gas plant in Argentina (125 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). 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 CT MENDOZA SA.
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 33.1°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 36% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 35/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).
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 benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion 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 #16 largest gas power plant of 95 in Argentina by capacity.
Argentina has 95 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 22,760 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -33.0551, -68.981 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
LUJAN DE CUYO is a 521 MW source-record gas power plant in Mendoza, Argentina, commissioned in 1988.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 586,794 homes (estimated).
LUJAN DE CUYO is operated by CT MENDOZA SA.
