49th largest plant in Louisiana · 2759th nationally
Geismar is a natural gas power plant in Louisiana with a nameplate capacity of 84.1 MW. It generates roughly 584.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 55,657 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 79% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 641 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 (84.1 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 | Geismar |
|---|---|
| Operator | Basf Corporation |
| City | Geismar |
| County | Ascension County |
| State | Louisiana |
| ZIP | 70734 |
| Coordinates | 30.20000, -91.00000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 45.0 MW | Planned | — |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 41.2 MW | Operating | 1998 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 35.7 MW | Operating | 1985 |
| GEN5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Planned | — |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.2 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 187.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 513 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 641 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| 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.