Gas power plant in Cheshire, United Kingdom. Approximate location 53.275459, -2.110065.
GasCheshireUnited KingdomCCGT · HRSG
Macclesfield Zenca power station is a 23 MW gas power plant in Cheshire, United Kingdom. It is operated by AstraZeneca PLC [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 26k homes (estimated). It ranks #487 of 2,860 United Kingdom power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2001, it is around 25 years old — relatively modern. In context, gas supplies about 31.1% of United Kingdom's electricity; the national grid averages 217 gCO₂/kWh (64.4% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_macclesfieldzenca_united.
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 · L100000407637; fuel: GEM GOGPT
At 23 MW, Macclesfield Zenca power station is below the median gas plant in United Kingdom (115 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 AstraZeneca PLC [100%].
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 53.3°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 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 #106 largest gas power plant of 130 in United Kingdom by capacity.
United Kingdom has 130 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 52,329 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 53.275459, -2.110065 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Macclesfield Zenca power station is a 23 MW gas power plant in Cheshire, United Kingdom, commissioned in 2001.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 25,904 homes (estimated).
Macclesfield Zenca power station is operated by AstraZeneca PLC [100%].
