9th largest plant in Florida · 45th nationally
H L Culbreath Bayside Power Station is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 2,399 MW. It generates roughly 6.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 581,771 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 29% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 853 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 (2,399 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 | H L Culbreath Bayside Power Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Tampa Electric Co |
| City | Tampa |
| County | Hillsborough County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 33619 |
| Coordinates | 27.90720, -82.42310 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2ST | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 446 MW | Operating | 1967 |
| 1ST | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 239 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| 1A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 1B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 1C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 2A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 2B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 2C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 2D | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 3A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 3B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 69.9 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 69.9 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 69.9 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 69.9 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 62.0 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 62.0 MW | Cancelled | — |
| BESS1 | Batteries | Battery | 20.0 MW | Under Construction | — |
| CO₂ | 2.6M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 13 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 292 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 853 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 | Tampa Electric Company |
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.