5th largest plant in South Dakota · 928th nationally
Astoria Station is a natural gas power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 349 MW. It generates roughly 407.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 38,783 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 13% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1233 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Astoria Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Otter Tail Power Co |
| City | Astoria |
| County | Deuel County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57213 |
| Coordinates | 44.57496, -96.55942 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 349 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| CO₂ | 251.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 51 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1233 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, 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.