Swanbank E is a 385 MW gas power station in Queensland, Australia. It is operated by CS Energy. Based on reported annual generation of 671 GWh, it can supply roughly 192k homes. It ranks #65 of 536 Australia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2002, it is around 24 years old — relatively modern. Its modelled annual emissions are 217,418 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 51k cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 16.4% of Australia's electricity; the national grid averages 525 gCO₂/kWh (38.6% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id AUS0000149.
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: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 385 MW, Swanbank E is well above the median gas plant in Australia (106 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). 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.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by CS Energy. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 27.7°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 83% 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: 19/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~3% 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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion 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 #26 largest gas power plant of 163 in Australia by capacity.
Australia has 163 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 29,942 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -27.6554, 152.8179 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Swanbank E is a 385 MW source-record gas power plant in Queensland, Australia, commissioned in 2002.
Swanbank E generates about 671 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 191,771 homes.
Swanbank E is operated by CS Energy.
Swanbank E has modelled emissions of about 217,418 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).
