9th largest plant in South Carolina · 327th nationally
Broad River Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 985 MW. It generates roughly 291.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 27,738 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1218 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Broad River Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Broad River Energy Llc |
| City | Gaffney |
| County | Cherokee County |
| State | South Carolina |
| ZIP | 29340 |
| Coordinates | 35.07860, -81.57500 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT01 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CT02 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CT03 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CT04 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT05 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 177.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 128 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1218 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Duke Energy Carolinas |
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.