39th largest plant in Colorado · 1619th nationally
Arapahoe Combustion Turbine Project is a natural gas power plant in Colorado with a nameplate capacity of 194 MW. It generates roughly 219.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 20,864 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 13% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1080 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 (194 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 | Arapahoe Combustion Turbine Project |
|---|---|
| Operator | Swg Arapahoe, Llc |
| City | Denver |
| County | Denver County |
| State | Colorado |
| ZIP | 80223 |
| Coordinates | 39.66920, -105.00180 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UN5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 71.1 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| UN6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 71.1 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| UN7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 51.8 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 118.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 29 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1080 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 | Public Service Company Of Colorado |
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.