20th largest plant in North Carolina · 503rd nationally
Dan River is a natural gas power plant in North Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 698 MW. It generates roughly 3.7M MWh per year — enough to power about 355,188 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 61% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 865 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 (698 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 | Dan River |
|---|---|
| Operator | Duke Energy Carolinas, Llc |
| City | Eden |
| County | Rockingham County |
| State | North Carolina |
| ZIP | 27288 |
| Coordinates | 36.48620, -79.72080 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 327 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CT8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CT9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 150 MW | Retired | 1955 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 70.0 MW | Retired | 1949 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 70.0 MW | Retired | 1950 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 35.2 MW | Retired | 1968 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 35.2 MW | Retired | 1968 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 27.4 MW | Retired | 1969 |
| CO₂ | 1.6M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 413 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 865 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 | Duke Energy Carolinas |
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.