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Zouerate (Solar)

Solar power plant in Tiris Zemmour, Mauritania. Approximate location 22.7241, -12.4578.

SolarTiris ZemmourMauritania

Zouerate (Solar) is a 3 MW solar power plant in Tiris Zemmour, Mauritania. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1.3k homes (estimated). It ranks #8 of 8 Mauritania power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2018, it is around 8 years old — recently built. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 7.7% of Mauritania's electricity; the national grid averages 512 gCO₂/kWh (22.7% low-carbon) (2024).

3Legacy source-record capacity
1,276homes powered (est.)
2018commissioned (~8 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1063723.

Data status

Known data

FacilityZouerate (Solar) WRI
CountryMauritania · Tiris Zemmour WRI
Coordinates22.7241, -12.4578 WRI
FuelSolar WRI
MW installed capacity3 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
Commissioned2018 WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#8 of 8 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#2 of 2 calculated
Homes-powered equivalent1,276 calculated
Climate25.9°C · HDD 0 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC1 · 44/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

OwnerNot available not in dataset
TechnologyNot available not in dataset
GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

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 14 MW for Zouérat solar project, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: B_SCOPE_PARENT_COMPLEX - recommended action: build_parent_complex_model - confidence: not_comparable_without_scope. 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

Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.

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

Capacity vs largest solar plants in Mauritania

Nouakchott (Solar): 30 MW30Nouakchott…Zouerate (Solar): 3 MW3Zouerate (…

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

Local climate & thermal context

This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 22.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

25.9°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,907cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
377 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 20 °CFM: 23 °CMA: 24 °CAM: 27 °CMJ: 30 °CJJ: 33 °CJA: 34 °CAS: 32 °CSO: 28 °CON: 24 °CND: 19 °CD34 °C

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.

Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 3.0% at warm-season highs here (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.

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 benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.

C1ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
44/100environmental-severity index
15.7°Cseasonal temperature swing
322 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 #2 largest solar power plant of 2 in Mauritania by capacity.

Mauritania has 2 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 33 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 22.7241, -12.4578 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Zouerate (Solar)?

Zouerate (Solar) is a 3 MW source-record solar power plant in Tiris Zemmour, Mauritania, commissioned in 2018.

How many homes can Zouerate (Solar) power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,276 homes (estimated).

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