Meroicinha is a 9 MW wind power plant in Vila Real, Portugal. It is operated by Ventient Energy [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 7.7k homes (estimated). It ranks #217 of 480 Portugal power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2003, it is around 23 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, wind supplies about 26.7% of Portugal's electricity; the national grid averages 128 gCO₂/kWh (81.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023388.
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 15 MW for Meroicinha wind farm, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).
Capacity claim grade: A3_MAJOR_REVIEW_SCOPE_STATUS - recommended action: manual_scope_status_check - confidence: low_until_scope_verified. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.
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 tracker 2026 (location L100000910305); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 9 MW, Meroicinha is below the median wind plant in Portugal (12 MW). Technically it is described as Onshore. Wind turbines convert moving air into electricity; output is variable and site-dependent, and modern turbines deliver some of the lowest-cost new generation on many grids.
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 Ventient Energy [100%].
This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. It sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 41.4°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 23% 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: 41/100 — 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 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 #135 largest wind power plant of 224 in Portugal by capacity.
Portugal has 224 wind power plants in this dataset, together about 5,055 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 41.3716, -7.7577 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Meroicinha is a 9 MW source-record wind power plant in Vila Real, Portugal, commissioned in 2003.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 7,658 homes (estimated).
Meroicinha is operated by Ventient Energy [100%].
