Csuf Trigeneration

🔥 Natural GasCommercial CHP8 MW capacity

853rd largest plant in California · 6085th nationally

Csuf Trigeneration is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 8.9 MW. It generates roughly 37.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,558 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 48% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 562 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%48%
Mid-merit — steady but not full-time
Capacity9 MWnameplate
Annual Generation37.4k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor48%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂10.5kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameCsuf Trigeneration
OperatorCalifornia State University At Fullerton
CityFullerton
CountyOrange County
StateCalifornia
ZIP92831
Coordinates33.88064, -117.88656

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasHydroelectricSolarBiomass

Generators (7)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
1Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas4.6 MWOperating2010
NPSSolar PhotovoltaicSolar2.0 MWOperating2016
SCPSSolar PhotovoltaicSolar1.0 MWOperating2016
PS5Solar PhotovoltaicSolar0.4 MWOperating2020
CPACSolar PhotovoltaicSolar0.3 MWOperating2012
KHSSolar PhotovoltaicSolar0.3 MWOperating2012
PS4Solar PhotovoltaicSolar0.3 MWOperating2012

Emissions (annual)

CO₂10.5k metric tons
NOₓ29 metric tons
CO₂ Rate562 lb/MWh
This plant562 lb/MWhU.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityCalifornia Independent System Operator

About Natural Gas plants

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.

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