31st largest plant in Minnesota · 1629th nationally
Elk River is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 191 MW. It generates roughly 58.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 5,545 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1394 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Elk River |
|---|---|
| Operator | Great River Energy |
| City | Elk River |
| County | Sherburne County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55330 |
| Coordinates | 45.29680, -93.55845 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 191 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 3 | Municipal Solid Waste | Municipal Waste | 25.0 MW | Retired | 1959 |
| 1 | Municipal Solid Waste | Municipal Waste | 11.5 MW | Retired | 1951 |
| 2 | Municipal Solid Waste | Municipal Waste | 11.5 MW | Retired | 1951 |
| CO₂ | 40.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 11 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1394 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.