Gas power plant in Vargas, Venezuela. Approximate location 10.5877, -67.0806.
GasVargasVenezuela
Ricardo Zuloaga (Tacoa) Thermal Power Plant Venezuela is a 1,720 MW gas power station in Vargas, Venezuela. It is operated by Government Operating: La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1.9 million homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 59 Venezuela power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1956, it is around 70 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, gas supplies about 4.5% of Venezuela's electricity; the national grid averages 86 gCO₂/kWh (91.1% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061135.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 1,720 MW, Ricardo Zuloaga (Tacoa) Thermal Power Plant Venezuela is well above the median gas plant in Venezuela (300 MW). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Government Operating: La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC).
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 10.6°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.
A gas turbine here also runs ~4% 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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
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.
The #2 largest gas power plant of 44 in Venezuela by capacity.
Venezuela has 44 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 16,840 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 10.5877, -67.0806 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Ricardo Zuloaga (Tacoa) Thermal Power Plant Venezuela is a 1,720 MW source-record gas power plant in Vargas, Venezuela, commissioned in 1956.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,937,211 homes (estimated).
Ricardo Zuloaga (Tacoa) Thermal Power Plant Venezuela is operated by Government Operating: La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC).
