1st largest plant in Delaware · 281st nationally
Hay Road is a natural gas power plant in Delaware with a nameplate capacity of 1,098 MW. It generates roughly 2.0M MWh per year — enough to power about 186,388 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 20% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1028 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 (1,098 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 | Hay Road |
|---|---|
| Operator | Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation Llc |
| City | Wilmington |
| County | New Castle County |
| State | Delaware |
| ZIP | 19809 |
| Coordinates | 39.74360, -75.50720 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 207 MW | Operating | 1993 |
| HR8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 195 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| HR5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 122 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| HR6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 122 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| HR7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 122 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| HR3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 122 MW | Operating | 1991 |
| HR1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1989 |
| HR2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1989 |
| CO₂ | 1.0M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 359 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1028 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.