17th largest plant in Rhode Island · 5526th nationally
Central Power Plant is a natural gas power plant in Rhode Island with a nameplate capacity of 11.0 MW. It generates roughly 18.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,791 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 20% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 481 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Central Power Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | State Of Rhode Island |
| City | Cranston |
| County | Providence County |
| State | Rhode Island |
| ZIP | 02920 |
| Coordinates | 41.74497, -71.45842 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| GEN6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| GEN3 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Retired | 1958 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Standby | 1958 |
| GEN7 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| GEN1 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 0.7 MW | Retired | 1932 |
| CO₂ | 4.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 15 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 481 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 | NPCC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Iso New England 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.