1630th largest plant in California · 12336th nationally
Cst001 Mccarthy Fuel Cell is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 1.2 MW. It generates roughly 8.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 791 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 79% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time.
| Plant Name | Cst001 Mccarthy Fuel Cell |
|---|---|
| Operator | 2016 Esa Project Company, Llc |
| City | Milpitas |
| County | Santa Clara County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 95035 |
| Coordinates | 37.40553, -121.91676 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CST1A | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.9 MW | Operating | 2019 |
| CST1B | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.3 MW | Operating | 2019 |
| 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.