Maritsa Itzok-3 power station is a 908 MW coal power station in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. It is operated by Contour Global Maritsa Iztok 3 AD. Based on reported annual generation of 4,656 GWh, it can supply roughly 1.3 million homes. It ranks #6 of 55 Bulgaria power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1980, it is around 46 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 22.5% of Bulgaria's electricity; the national grid averages 276 gCO₂/kWh (71.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1008061.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 454 MW for Maritsa Iztok-3 power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).
Capacity claim grade: D_REJECT_KEEP_MASTER - recommended action: keep_master - confidence: rejected_candidate. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.
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 908 MW, Maritsa Itzok-3 power station is well above the median coal plant in Bulgaria (180 MW). Technically it is described as unknown. 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.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Contour Global Maritsa Iztok 3 AD.
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.1°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 2% above 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: 51/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), 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 #2 largest coal power plant of 14 in Bulgaria by capacity.
Bulgaria has 14 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 5,419 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 42.145, 26.0025 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Maritsa Itzok-3 power station is a 908 MW source-record coal power plant in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, commissioned in 1980.
Maritsa Itzok-3 power station generates about 4,656 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,330,228 homes.
Maritsa Itzok-3 power station is operated by Contour Global Maritsa Iztok 3 AD.
