Petit Saut — French Guiana
Hydro power plant in Guyane, French Guiana. Approximate location 5.0627, -53.0476.
HydroGuyaneFrench Guianaconventional storage
Petit Saut is a 116 MW hydro power station in Guyane, French Guiana. It is operated by Électricité de France. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 116k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 6 French Guiana power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1994, it is around 32 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 53.1% of French Guiana's electricity; the national grid averages 245 gCO₂/kWh (65.3% low-carbon) (2023).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1022129.
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
Source of the capacity and fuel values:
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000601692; fuel: WRI GPPD
In context: how this plant compares
Technically it is described as conventional storage. Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Owner
Operated by Électricité de France.
Local climate & thermal context
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 5.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.
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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt 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
French Guiana has 1 hydro power plant in this dataset, together about 116 MW of capacity.
Nearby power plants
Location
Coordinates 5.0627, -53.0476 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is Petit Saut?
Petit Saut is a 116 MW hydro power plant in Guyane, French Guiana, commissioned in 1994.
Who operates Petit Saut?
Petit Saut is operated by Électricité de France.