21st largest plant in South Carolina · 988th nationally
Darlington County is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 316 MW. It generates roughly 22.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,107 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1626 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Darlington County |
|---|---|
| Operator | Duke Energy Progress - (Nc) |
| City | Hartsville |
| County | Darlington County |
| State | South Carolina |
| ZIP | 29550 |
| Coordinates | 34.41850, -80.16570 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 158 MW | Operating | 1997 |
| 13 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 158 MW | Operating | 1997 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 11 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1975 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1975 |
| 9 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 66.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 10 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 65.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 65.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 65.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 6 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 65.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 8 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 65.8 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| CO₂ | 18.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 14 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1626 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 Progress East |
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.