77th largest plant in Nevada · 4586th nationally
Beowawe is a geothermal power plant in Nevada with a nameplate capacity of 20.6 MW. It generates roughly 97.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 9,276 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 54% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 89 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Beowawe |
|---|---|
| Operator | Ormat Nevada Inc |
| City | Beowawe |
| County | Lander County |
| State | Nevada |
| ZIP | 89821 |
| Coordinates | 40.55470, -116.61750 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 17.0 MW | Retired | 1985 |
| OEC1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 14.6 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| OEC2 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 14.6 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| BWSOL | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 5.8 MW | Testing | — |
| GEN2 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.6 MW | Retired | 2011 |
| CO₂ | 4.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| CO₂ Rate | 89 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 | Nevada Power Company |
Geothermal plants tap heat from underground reservoirs to spin steam turbines. They provide carbon-free baseload power with very high capacity factors, but they only work where hot rock is accessible — primarily in the western U.S.