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Nouakchott (Thermal)

Oil power plant in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Approximate location 18.046, -15.9748.

OilNouakchottMauritania

Nouakchott (Thermal) is a 52 MW oil power plant in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 38,894 homes (estimated). It ranks #3 of 7 Mauritania power plants by installed capacity. In context, oil supplies about 77.3% of Mauritania's electricity; the national grid averages 512 gCO₂/kWh (22.7% low-carbon) (2024).

52MW installed capacity
38,894homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023109.

~102,098 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

23,799passenger cars driven for a year
13,315homes' yearly energy use
1,701,630tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 30% load factor × a typical oil emission factor (~750 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Capacity vs largest oil plants in Mauritania

Guelbs El Rhein: 67 MW67Guelbs El …Nouakchott (Thermal): 52 MW52Nouakchott…Zouerate: 14 MW14Zouerate

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

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 18.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

25.6°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,776cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
6 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 21 °CJF: 23 °CFM: 24 °CMA: 25 °CAM: 26 °CMJ: 27 °CJJ: 27 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 29 °CSO: 29 °CON: 25 °CND: 22 °CD29 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #2 largest oil power plant of 3 in Mauritania by capacity.

Mauritania has 3 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 133 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 18.046, -15.9748 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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