Wind power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica. Approximate location -77.8428, 166.7271.
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Ross Island is a 1 MW wind power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica. It is operated by Meridian Energy. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 850 homes (estimated). It ranks #2 of 2 Antarctica power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation.
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1022458.
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
Wind turbines convert moving air into electricity; output is variable and site-dependent, and modern turbines deliver some of the lowest-cost new generation on many grids.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Operated by Meridian Energy. All plants by this company →
This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. It sits in a polar ice cap climate (Köppen EF) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 77.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 436% above 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: 100/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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 a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with marine 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.
Antarctica has 1 wind power plant in this dataset, together about 1 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -77.8428, 166.7271 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Ross Island is a 1 MW source-record wind power plant in Antarctica, Antarctica.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 850 homes (estimated).
Ross Island is operated by Meridian Energy.
