Home / Africa / Gabon / Tchimbele

Tchimbele

Hydro power plant in Centro Sur, Gabon. Approximate location 0.621, 10.407.

HydroCentro SurGabon

Tchimbele is a 68 MW hydro power plant in Centro Sur, Gabon. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 68,478 homes (estimated). It ranks #3 of 6 Gabon power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 35.0% of Gabon's electricity; the national grid averages 523 gCO₂/kWh (35.4% low-carbon) (2024).

68MW installed capacity
68,478homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1023077.

Capacity vs largest hydro plants in Gabon

Poubara: 160 MW160PoubaraTchimbele: 68 MW68TchimbeleKinguele: 58 MW58Kinguele

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

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 0.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

23.1°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,842cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
592 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 24 °CJF: 24 °CFM: 24 °CMA: 24 °CAM: 24 °CMJ: 22 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 23 °CSO: 23 °CON: 23 °CND: 24 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #2 largest hydro power plant of 3 in Gabon by capacity.

Gabon has 3 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 286 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 0.621, 10.407 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.