Biomass power plant in Rio Negro, Uruguay. Approximate location -33.1148, -58.2567.
BiomassRio NegroUruguay
UPM is a 161 MW biomass power station in Rio Negro, Uruguay. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 222k homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 73 Uruguay power plants by installed capacity. In context, biomass supplies about 24.9% of Uruguay's electricity; the national grid averages 80 gCO₂/kWh (97.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id URY0000836.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: Wikidata P2109 nameplate capacity; fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 161 MW, UPM is well above the median biomass plant in Uruguay (12 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 33.1°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 65% 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: 25/100 — 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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), 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 #2 largest biomass power plant of 10 in Uruguay by capacity.
Uruguay has 10 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 413 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -33.1148, -58.2567 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
UPM is a 161 MW source-record biomass power plant in Rio Negro, Uruguay.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 221,628 homes (estimated).
