49th largest plant in Virginia · 2719th nationally
Buchanan Generation Llc is a natural gas power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 88.0 MW. It generates roughly 185.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 17,651 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 24% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1161 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Buchanan Generation Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Buchanan Generation, Llc |
| City | Keen Mountain |
| County | Buchanan County |
| State | Virginia |
| ZIP | 24631 |
| Coordinates | 37.17528, -81.96139 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 44.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 44.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Consol Energy Inc | Canonsburg, PA | 5000.0% |
| Buchanan Generation, Llc | Kenn Mountain, VA | 5000.0% |
| Firstenergy Generation Corp | Akron, OH | 5000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 107.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 70 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1161 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.