Biomass power plant in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Approximate location -25.5773, 30.6564.
BiomassMpumalangaSouth Africa
SAPPI NGODWANA is a 117 MW biomass power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 161k homes (estimated). It ranks #71 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. In context, biomass supplies about 0.2% of South Africa's electricity; the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CT-6244.
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: Climate TRACE source-record capacity (modelled/legacy); fuel: Climate TRACE source-record fuel
At 117 MW, SAPPI NGODWANA is well above the median biomass plant in South Africa (19 MW). Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.
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).
This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 25.6°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 77% 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: 21/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness 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 #1 largest biomass power plant of 14 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 14 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 350 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -25.5773, 30.6564 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
SAPPI NGODWANA is a 117 MW source-record biomass power plant in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 161,058 homes (estimated).
