9th largest plant in Illinois · 188th nationally
Joliet 29 is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 1,320 MW. It generates roughly 707.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 67,408 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 6% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1273 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Joliet 29 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Midwest Generations Eme Llc |
| City | Joliet |
| County | Will County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60436 |
| Coordinates | 41.49464, -88.12383 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 660 MW | Retired | 1965 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 660 MW | Retired | 1966 |
| CO₂ | 450.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 381 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1273 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.