Geothermal power plant in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Approximate location 14.77, -91.505.
GeothermalQuetzaltenangoGuatemala
Zunil is a 29 MW geothermal power plant in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Based on reported annual generation of 136 GWh, it can supply roughly 38,714 homes. It ranks #38 of 76 Guatemala power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1999, it is around 27 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, geothermal supplies about 2.2% of Guatemala's electricity; the national grid averages 301 gCO₂/kWh (68.3% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061453.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
This geothermal plant taps underground heat to raise steam that drives a turbine. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 14.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 46% 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: 31/100 — 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.
The #1 largest geothermal power plant of 2 in Guatemala by capacity.
Guatemala has 2 geothermal power plants in this dataset, together about 54 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 14.77, -91.505 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
