Home / Europe / Ukraine / Vuglegirska power station

Vuglegirska power station

Coal power plant in Donetsk, Ukraine. Approximate location 48.4652, 38.2027.

CoalDonetskUkraineSteamsubcriticalMothballed

Vuglegirska power station is a 3,600 MW coal power station in Donetsk, Ukraine. It is operated by Centrenergo. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 4.5 million homes (estimated). It ranks #5 of 98 Ukraine power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1973, it is around 53 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, coal supplies about 20.9% of Ukraine's electricity; the national grid averages 250 gCO₂/kWh (72.2% low-carbon) (2022).

3,600Legacy source-record capacity
4,505,142homes powered (est.)
1973commissioned (~53 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1005107.

Data status

Known data

FacilityVuglegirska power station WRI
CountryUkraine · Donetsk WRI
Coordinates48.4652, 38.2027 WRI
FuelCoal WRI
MW installed capacity3,600 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerCentrenergo WRI
Commissioned1973 WRI
TechnologySteam · subcritical WRI

Calculated from dataset

CO₂ emissions15,768,000 t CO₂/yr calculated
Capacity rank in country#5 of 98 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#1 of 22 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers2.98× · 1,210 MW median · 22 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent4,505,142 calculated
Climate8.0°C · HDD 3,821 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC2 · 29/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 1,200 MW for Vuglegirska power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: A3_MAJOR_REVIEW_SCOPE_STATUS - recommended action: manual_scope_status_check - confidence: low_until_scope_verified. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.

Data provenance

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

In context: how this plant compares

At 3,600 MW, Vuglegirska power station is well above the median coal plant in Ukraine (1,210 MW). Technically it is described as Steam; subcritical. Its current lifecycle status is “mothballed” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Capacity vs largest coal plants in Ukraine

Vuglegirska power station: 3,600 MW4kVuglegirsk…Zaporizhia power station: 2,825 MW3kZaporizhia…Burshtyn power station: 2,334 MW2kBurshtyn p…Zmiivska power station: 2,200 MW2kZmiivska p…Ladyzhyn power station: 1,800 MW2kLadyzhyn p…Trypilska: 1,800 MW2kTrypilskaStarobeshivska: 1,775 MW2kStarobeshi…Kryvorizka power station: 1,764 MW2kKryvorizka…

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

Owner

Operated by Centrenergo.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 48.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.0°Cannual mean temp
3,821heating degree-days (base 18°C)
198cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
194 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -6 °CJF: -5 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 10 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 15 °CSO: 8 °CON: 1 °CND: -3 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 55% above 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: 82/100 — this site sits in the top 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.

Site climate & environmental severity

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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

C2ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
29/100environmental-severity index
26.6°Cseasonal temperature swing
203 kmdistance to coast

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #1 largest coal power plant of 22 in Ukraine by capacity.

Ukraine has 22 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 26,630 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 48.4652, 38.2027 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Vuglegirska power station?

Vuglegirska power station is a 3,600 MW source-record coal power plant in Donetsk, Ukraine, commissioned in 1973.

How many homes can Vuglegirska power station power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 4,505,142 homes (estimated).

Who operates Vuglegirska power station?

Vuglegirska power station is operated by Centrenergo.

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