Río Turbio power station

Río Turbio power station is a 240 MW coal power station in Santa Cruz, Argentina. It is operated by Carboeléctrica Río Turbio SA [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 300k homes (estimated). It ranks #51 of 275 Argentina power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 1.8% of Argentina's electricity; the national grid averages 346 gCO₂/kWh (41.6% low-carbon) (2025).

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

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 120 MW for Río Turbio power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Data provenance

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: Wikidata P2109; fuel: GEM GCPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 240 MW, Río Turbio power station is below the median coal plant in Argentina (361 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Its current lifecycle status is “Construction” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Capacity vs largest coal plants in Argentina

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

Owner

Operated by Carboeléctrica Río Turbio SA [100%].

Climate zone & how it works

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 51.5°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

How it compares & nearby plants

The #6 largest coal power plant of 10 in Argentina by capacity.

Argentina has 10 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 5,128 MW of capacity.

Location

Coordinates -51.546015, -72.231256 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions