Electric generating plantEIA plant no. 68741

Canyon Peak Power Station

Type
Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
Nameplate capacity
157 MW
Units
6
Operator
Canyon Peak Power, LLC
Location
Bennett, Arapahoe County, Colorado
Rated 46th largest in Colorado · 1947th of 14,017 in the U.S. · by nameplate

Canyon Peak Power Station is a natural gas power plant in Colorado with a nameplate capacity of 157 MW.

The 157 MW is nameplate capacity: the most this plant's generators are rated to produce, not what it actually generates. EPA eGRID reports no positive net generation for it this year.

How it works

A combustion turbine (“peaker”) burning natural gas

airnatural gas1compressor squeezes air2fuel burns3hot gas spins turbine4generator
  1. A compressor at the front squeezes outside air.
  2. natural gas burns in that compressed air.
  3. The hot, expanding gas spins the turbine — the same idea as a jet engine.
  4. The turbine turns a generator; exhaust leaves through the stack.

Why the numbers look like this: a combustion turbine can go from cold to full power in well under an hour, often minutes, so grid operators call on these plants for the few hottest or coldest hours of the year. A low capacity factor here is the job description, not a failure.

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolarBiomass

Location

Address5050 S Cr 129
CityBennett
CountyArapahoe County
StateColorado
ZIP80102
Coordinates39.62295, -104.45077
OperatorCanyon Peak Power, LLC

Generators (6)

IDTechnologyFuelNameplate capacityStatusOnline
CPP_1Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—
CPP_2Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—
CPP_3Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—
CPP_4Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—
CPP_5Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—
CPP_6Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas26.1 MWApproved—

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Kindle Energy LLCPrinceton, NJ10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityWestern Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region

About Natural Gas plants

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.

Other plants in Arapahoe County

View all plants in Arapahoe County →

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