Poliwatt

Oil power plant in Escuintla, Guatemala. Approximate location 13.92, -90.786.

OilEscuintlaGuatemala

Poliwatt is a 129 MW oil power station in Escuintla, Guatemala. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 97,160 homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2000, it is around 26 years old — long-established. In context, oil supplies about 15.8% of Guatemala's electricity; the national grid averages 301 gCO₂/kWh (68.3% low-carbon) (2024).

129MW installed capacity
97,160homes powered (est.)
2000commissioned (~26 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061435.

~255,047 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

59,452passenger cars driven for a year
33,261homes' yearly energy use
4,250,790tree 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 Guatemala

Arizona Vapor: 170 MW170Arizona Va…Poliwatt: 129 MW129PoliwattLas Palmas: 89 MW89Las PalmasTampa: 80 MW80TampaIndustria Textiles Del Lago: 70 MW70Industria …Puerto Quetzal Power: 59 MW59Puerto Que…GECSA: 54 MW54GECSAStewart & Stevenson: 51 MW51Stewart & …

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 tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 13.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

27.4°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
3,431cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
8 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 26 °CJF: 27 °CFM: 28 °CMA: 29 °CAM: 28 °CMJ: 28 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 27 °CSO: 27 °CON: 27 °CND: 26 °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 19 in Guatemala by capacity.

Guatemala has 19 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 983 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 13.92, -90.786 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.