Biomass power plant in Escuintla, Guatemala. Approximate location 14.12, -90.932.
BiomassEscuintlaGuatemala
Magdalena is a 145 MW biomass power station in Escuintla, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 1,000 GWh, it can supply roughly 285,685 homes. It ranks #4 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1994, it is around 32 years old — long-established. In context, biomass supplies about 22.2% 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 WRI1061443.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 14.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
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.
The #1 largest biomass power plant of 13 in Guatemala by capacity.
Guatemala has 13 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 880 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 14.12, -90.932 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
