1st largest plant in Hawaii · 602nd nationally
Kahe is a oil power plant in Hawaii with a nameplate capacity of 610 MW. It generates roughly 2.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 242,878 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 48% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1764 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 (610 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 | Kahe |
|---|---|
| Operator | Hawaiian Electric Co Inc |
| City | Kapolei |
| County | Honolulu County |
| State | Hawaii |
| ZIP | 96707 |
| Coordinates | 21.35639, -158.12885 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K5 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 135 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| K6 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 135 MW | Operating | 1981 |
| K4 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 90.9 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| K3 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 85.8 MW | Operating | 1970 |
| K1 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 81.6 MW | Operating | 1963 |
| K2 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 81.6 MW | Operating | 1964 |
| CO₂ | 2.2M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6.6k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 4.1k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1764 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.
Oil-fired plants typically run only during peak demand or grid emergencies because oil is expensive compared to gas and coal. They have the highest CO₂ emissions per MWh of any common generation technology.