Gas power plant in Santander, Colombia. Approximate location 7.0543, -73.82.
GasSantanderColombiaOCGT
Merilectrica power station is a 167 MW gas power station in Santander, Colombia. It is operated by Celsia Colombia SA ESP [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 188k homes (estimated). It ranks #32 of 44 Colombia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1998, it is around 28 years old — long-established. In context, gas supplies about 13.8% of Colombia's electricity; the national grid averages 187 gCO₂/kWh (77.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_merilectrica_colomb.
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 · L100000406571; fuel: GEM GOGPT
At 167 MW, Merilectrica power station is below the median gas plant in Colombia (241 MW). Technically it is described as OCGT. 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 Celsia Colombia SA ESP [100%].
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 7.1°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 #13 largest gas power plant of 20 in Colombia by capacity.
Colombia has 20 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 8,721 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 7.0543, -73.82 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Merilectrica power station is a 167 MW gas power plant in Santander, Colombia, commissioned in 1998.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 188,089 homes (estimated).
Merilectrica power station is operated by Celsia Colombia SA ESP [100%].
