Skeldon — Guyana

Skeldon is a 30 MW biomass power plant in East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. It is operated by Guyana Power & Light. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 41k homes (estimated). It ranks #3 of 6 Guyana power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2008, it is around 18 years old — relatively modern. In context, biomass supplies about 1.4% of Guyana's electricity; the national grid averages 645 gCO₂/kWh (2.9% low-carbon) (2024).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023000.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

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.

Owner

Operated by Guyana Power & Light.

Local climate & thermal context

This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 5.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.

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.

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

Guyana has 1 biomass power plant in this dataset, together about 30 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Wales power station · Gas · 600 MW · Essequibo Islands-West Demerara
• Kingston 1 · Oil · 22 MW · Demerara-Mahaica
• Versailles Power Station · Oil · 22 MW · Essequibo Islands-West Demerara
• Kingston 11 · Oil · 36.3 MW · Demerara-Mahaica
• Vreed en Hoop · Oil · 26 MW · Essequibo Islands-West Demerara

Location

Coordinates 5.8803, -57.1497 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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