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 161,058 homes (estimated). It ranks #40 of 122 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.
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.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
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.
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.
