65th largest plant in Kansas · 2795th nationally
Great Bend - Sunflower is a natural gas power plant in Kansas with a nameplate capacity of 81.6 MW. It generates roughly 32.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,045 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1524 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 (81.6 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 | Great Bend - Sunflower |
|---|---|
| Operator | Sunflower Electric Power Corp |
| City | Great Bend |
| County | Barton County |
| State | Kansas |
| ZIP | 67530 |
| Coordinates | 38.41000, -98.86890 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 81.6 MW | Operating | 1963 |
| CO₂ | 24.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 31 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1524 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 | Southwest Power Pool |
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.