14th largest plant in Minnesota · 961st nationally
Faribault Energy Park is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 335 MW. It generates roughly 1.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 100,479 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 36% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 816 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 (335 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 | Faribault Energy Park |
|---|---|
| Operator | Minnesota Municipal Power Agny |
| City | Faribault |
| County | Rice County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55021 |
| Coordinates | 44.33560, -93.29056 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU01 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 213 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| HRSG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 122 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CO₂ | 430.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 47 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 816 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.