143rd largest plant in Texas · 982nd nationally
Bayou Cogen Plant is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 318 MW. It generates roughly 2.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 214,112 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 81% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 547 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Bayou Cogen Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Air Liquide Large Industries U S Lp |
| City | Pasadena |
| County | Harris County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77507 |
| Coordinates | 29.62250, -95.04580 |
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 Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 79.6 MW | Retired | 1985 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 79.6 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 79.6 MW | Operating | 2016 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 79.6 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 79.6 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1984 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1984 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1985 |
| CO₂ | 615.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 109 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 547 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.