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PICO TRUNCADO I

Gas power plant in Santa Cruz, Argentina. Approximate location -46.7842, -67.9498.

GasSanta CruzArgentina

PICO TRUNCADO I is a 46 MW gas power plant in Santa Cruz, Argentina. It is operated by CT PATAGONICAS SA. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 51,358 homes (estimated). It ranks #79 of 236 Argentina power plants by installed capacity. In context, gas supplies about 52.7% of Argentina's electricity; the national grid averages 346 gCO₂/kWh (41.6% low-carbon) (2025).

46MW installed capacity
51,358homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id ARG0000304.

~71,902 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

16,760passenger cars driven for a year
9,377homes' yearly energy use
1,198,368tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 45% load factor × a typical gas emission factor (~400 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 gas plants in Argentina

NUEVO PUERTO: 1,218 MW1kNUEVO PUER…DOCK SUD: 872 MW872DOCK SUDCENTRAL TERMOELECTRICA MANUEL BELGRANO: 868 MW868CENTRAL TE…CENTRAL TERMOELECTRICA TIMBUES: 865 MW865CENTRAL TE…CENTRAL T.GENELBA: 674 MW674CENTRAL T.…CENTRAL TERMICA DE CICLO COMBINADO SALTA: 643 MW643CENTRAL TE…CT ENSENADA DE BARRAGAN: 567 MW567CT ENSENAD…VUELTA DE OBLIGADO: 560 MW560VUELTA DE …

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

Owner

Operated by CT PATAGONICAS SA. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 46.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.4°Cannual mean temp
2,415heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
255 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 17 °CFM: 15 °CMA: 12 °CAM: 8 °CMJ: 5 °CJJ: 5 °CJA: 6 °CAS: 9 °CSO: 12 °CON: 15 °CND: 17 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 2% 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: 49/100 — this site sits in the mid 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.

A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

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 #38 largest gas power plant of 57 in Argentina by capacity.

Argentina has 57 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 13,042 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -46.7842, -67.9498 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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