143rd largest plant in Iowa · 5108th nationally
Estherville is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 15.6 MW. It generates roughly 783 MWh per year — enough to power about 74 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 965 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Estherville |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Estherville - (Ia) |
| City | Estherville |
| County | Emmet County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 51334 |
| Coordinates | 43.40280, -94.84330 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 4.0 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 4.0 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.0 MW | Operating | 1960 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.0 MW | Operating | 1960 |
| 6 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Retired | 1950 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.6 MW | Operating | 1946 |
| CO₂ | 378 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 10 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 965 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 | Southwest Power Pool |
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.