Massawa is a 100.1 MW oil power station in Northern Red Sea Region, Eritrea. It is operated by Eritrean Electricity Corp. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 75k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 2 Eritrea power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2001, it is around 25 years old — relatively modern. In context, oil supplies about 88.9% of Eritrea's electricity; the national grid averages 578 gCO₂/kWh (11.1% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023071.
Data status
Known data
Calculated from dataset
Not available
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
Data provenance
Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.
capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD
In context: how this plant compares
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.
Key facts
- Share of Eritrea oil capacity
- 75.2% of 133 MW across 2 plants in this dataset
Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).
Capacity vs largest oil plants in Eritrea
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Owner
Operated by Eritrean Electricity Corp.
Local climate & thermal context
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 15.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.
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.
Site climate & environmental severity
This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
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.
How it compares & nearby plants
The #1 largest oil power plant of 2 in Eritrea by capacity.
Eritrea has 2 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 133 MW of capacity.
Nearby power plants
- Beleza · Oil · 33.1 MW · Maekel Region
Location
Coordinates 15.5786, 39.4422 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is Massawa?
Massawa is a 100.1 MW oil power plant in Northern Red Sea Region, Eritrea, commissioned in 2001.
Who operates Massawa?
Massawa is operated by Eritrean Electricity Corp.