Gas power plant in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Approximate location 25.7969, -97.7828.
GasTamaulipasMexico
Río Bravo III is a 495 MW gas power station in Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is operated by CFE/PIE. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 558k homes (estimated). It ranks #71 of 366 Mexico power plants by installed capacity. In context, gas supplies about 61.6% of Mexico's electricity; the national grid averages 474 gCO₂/kWh (25.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id MEX0001797.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000406245; fuel: WRI GPPD
At 495 MW, Río Bravo III is well above the median gas plant in Mexico (368 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 CFE/PIE. All plants by this company →
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 25.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 93% 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: 16/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~6% 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 a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion 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 #49 largest gas power plant of 129 in Mexico by capacity.
Mexico has 129 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 58,538 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 25.7969, -97.7828 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Río Bravo III is a 495 MW gas power plant in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 557,511 homes (estimated).
Río Bravo III is operated by CFE/PIE.
