12th largest plant in South Dakota · 1384th nationally
Groton Generation Station is a natural gas power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 216 MW. It generates roughly 201.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 19,228 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 11% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 975 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Groton Generation Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Basin Electric Power Coop |
| City | Groton |
| County | Brown County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57445 |
| Coordinates | 45.37350, -98.09869 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT01 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 108 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| GT02 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 108 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| CO₂ | 98.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 78 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 975 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.