26th largest plant in California · 550th nationally
Carlsbad Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 659 MW.
| Plant Name | Carlsbad Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Nrg California Peaker Operations Llc |
| City | Carlsbad |
| County | San Diego County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92008 |
| Coordinates | 33.14051, -117.33392 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEC 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 132 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CEC 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 132 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CEC 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 132 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CEC 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 132 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CEC10 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 132 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CEC11 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 106 MW | Cancelled | — |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Carlsbad Energy Center Llc | Carlsbad, CA | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | California Independent System Operator |
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.