101st largest plant in Texas · 758th nationally
Braes Bayou Plant is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 484 MW. It generates roughly 291.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 27,791 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 7% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1238 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Braes Bayou Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Proenergy Services |
| City | Richmond |
| County | Fort Bend County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77469 |
| Coordinates | 29.48028, -95.62028 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG-1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG-8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Braes Bayou Generating, Llc | Houston, TX | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 180.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 19 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1238 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.