14th largest plant in Arizona · 465th nationally
Agua Fria is a natural gas power plant in Arizona with a nameplate capacity of 738 MW. It generates roughly 152.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 14,483 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 2% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1351 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (738 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Agua Fria |
|---|---|
| Operator | Salt River Project |
| City | Glendale |
| County | Maricopa County |
| State | Arizona |
| ZIP | 85303 |
| Coordinates | 33.55610, -112.21530 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AF3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 163 MW | Operating | 1961 |
| AF1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1958 |
| AF2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1957 |
| AF4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 80.5 MW | Operating | 1975 |
| AF5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 71.2 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| AF6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 71.2 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| AF7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 49.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| AF8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 49.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| AFSB1 | Batteries | Battery | 25.0 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| PV-3 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.2 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 102.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 213 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1351 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Salt River Project |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.