78th largest plant in Texas · 629th nationally
Corpus Christi Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 593 MW. It generates roughly 2.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 242,670 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 49% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 668 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (593 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 | Corpus Christi Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Corpus Christi Cogeneration Llc |
| City | Corpus Christi |
| County | Nueces County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78407 |
| Coordinates | 27.81390, -97.42830 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 196 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 851.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 266 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 668 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, 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.