186th largest plant in Texas · 1182nd nationally
Freeport Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 260 MW. It generates roughly 1.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 118,408 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 55% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 658 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (260 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 | Freeport Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Dow Chemical Co |
| City | Freeport |
| County | Brazoria County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77541 |
| Coordinates | 28.98876, -95.39542 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 180 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 180 MW | Cancelled | — |
| STG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 80.0 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fengate Asset Management | Houston, TX | 10000.0% |
| Calpine Corp | Houston, TX | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 409.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 1.1k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 658 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, 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.