89th largest plant in Texas · 707th nationally
Frontera Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 529 MW.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (529 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 | Frontera Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Frontera Generation Limited Partnership |
| City | Mission |
| County | Hidalgo County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78572 |
| Coordinates | 26.20800, -98.39920 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 172 MW | Operating | 1999 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 172 MW | Operating | 1999 |
| 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.