McMurdo Station Generator — Antarctica
Oil power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica. Approximate location -77.847, 166.6605.
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McMurdo Station Generator is a 6.6 MW oil power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 5.0k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 2 Antarctica power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1981, it is around 45 years old — long-established.
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023843.
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
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.
Local climate & thermal context
This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a polar ice cap climate (Köppen EF) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 77.8°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 436% 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: 100/100 — this site sits in the top 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.
Site climate & environmental severity
This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with marine 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
Antarctica has 1 oil power plant in this dataset, together about 7 MW of capacity.
Nearby power plants
- Ross Island · Wind · 1 MW · Antarctica
Location
Coordinates -77.847, 166.6605 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is McMurdo Station Generator?
McMurdo Station Generator is a 6.6 MW oil power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica, commissioned in 1981.