21st largest plant in Virginia · 766th nationally
Clinch River is a natural gas power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 475 MW. It generates roughly 85.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 8,167 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 2% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1557 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (475 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Clinch River |
|---|---|
| Operator | Appalachian Power Co |
| City | Cleveland |
| County | Russell County |
| State | Virginia |
| ZIP | 24225 |
| Coordinates | 36.93330, -82.19970 |
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 Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 238 MW | Operating | 1958 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 238 MW | Operating | 1958 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 238 MW | Retired | 1961 |
| CO₂ | 66.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 29 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 73 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1557 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.