7th largest plant in California · 254th nationally
Geysers Unit 5-20 is a geothermal power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 1,163 MW. It generates roughly 4.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 428,534 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 89 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Geysers Unit 5-20 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Geysers Power Co Llc |
| City | Middletown |
| County | Sonoma County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 95461 |
| Coordinates | 38.77700, -122.74500 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U13 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 138 MW | Operating | 1980 |
| U16 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 118 MW | Operating | 1985 |
| U17 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 118 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| U18 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 118 MW | Operating | 1983 |
| U20 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 118 MW | Operating | 1985 |
| U14 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 113 MW | Operating | 1980 |
| U11 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 110 MW | Operating | 1975 |
| U12 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 110 MW | Operating | 1979 |
| U10 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Retired | 1973 |
| U5 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Operating | 1971 |
| U6 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Operating | 1971 |
| U7 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| U8 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| U9 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 55.0 MW | Retired | 1973 |
| CO₂ | 199.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 2 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 89 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | California Independent System Operator |
Geothermal plants tap heat from underground reservoirs to spin steam turbines. They provide carbon-free baseload power with very high capacity factors, but they only work where hot rock is accessible — primarily in the western U.S.