Hydro power plant in Quiche, Guatemala. Approximate location 15.5, -90.874.
HydroQuicheGuatemala
Palo Viejo is a 85 MW hydro power plant in Quiche, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 298 GWh, it can supply roughly 85,200 homes. It ranks #13 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 39.9% of Guatemala's electricity; the national grid averages 301 gCO₂/kWh (68.3% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061402.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 15.5°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 91% 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: 17/100 — 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.
The #4 largest hydro power plant of 30 in Guatemala by capacity.
Guatemala has 30 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 1,008 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 15.5, -90.874 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
