536th largest plant in Texas · 3520th nationally
Ascend Performance Materials Texas Inc. is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 52.1 MW. It generates roughly 192.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 18,367 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 42% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 623 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (52.1 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 | Ascend Performance Materials Texas Inc. |
|---|---|
| Operator | Ascend Performance Materials |
| City | Alvin |
| County | Brazoria County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77512 |
| Coordinates | 29.25580, -95.21030 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 46.1 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Operating | 1993 |
| GEN3 | Other Gases | Other Gas | 2.0 MW | Retired | 1990 |
| GEN2 | Other Gases | Other Gas | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1990 |
| CO₂ | 60.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 45 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 623 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, Inc. |
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.