10th largest plant in Minnesota · 666th nationally
Blue Lake is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 559 MW. It generates roughly 63.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,010 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1673 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Blue Lake |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota |
| City | Shakopee |
| County | Scott County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55379 |
| Coordinates | 44.78550, -93.43150 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 166 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 166 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 56.7 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 56.7 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 56.7 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 56.7 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| BLL09 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 9.8 MW | Under Construction | — |
| BLL10 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 9.8 MW | Under Construction | — |
| BLL11 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 9.8 MW | Under Construction | — |
| CO₂ | 52.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 21 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1673 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.