2nd largest plant in Florida · 8th nationally
Crystal River is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 3,449 MW. It generates roughly 16.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 1,532,012 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 53% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1144 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 (3,449 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 | Crystal River |
|---|---|
| Operator | Duke Energy Florida, Llc |
| City | Crystal River |
| County | Citrus County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 34428 |
| Coordinates | 28.96560, -82.69770 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Nuclear | Uranium | 890 MW | Retired | 1977 |
| 5 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 739 MW | Operating | 1984 |
| ST4 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 739 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 524 MW | Retired | 1969 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 441 MW | Retired | 1966 |
| CC1ST | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 365 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| CC2ST | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 365 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| 1GTA | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 310 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| 1GTB | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 310 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| 2GTA | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 310 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| 2GTB | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 310 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Duke Energy Florida, Llc | St. Petersburg, FL | 9178.0% |
| Several Municipals And Coops | 492.0% | |
| Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc | Tampa, FL | 170.0% |
| Orlando Utilities Comm | Orlando, FL | 160.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 9.2M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3.5k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 4.0k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1144 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Progress Energy Florida |
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.