Lake Crystal

🛢 OilElectric Utility5 MW capacity

186th largest plant in Minnesota · 6779th nationally

Lake Crystal is a oil power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 5.8 MW. It generates roughly 9 MWh per year — enough to power about 0 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1742 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%0%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity6 MWnameplate
Annual Generation9 MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor0%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂8metric tons

Location

Plant NameLake Crystal
OperatorCity Of Lake Crystal - (Mn)
CityLake Crystal
CountyBlue Earth County
StateMinnesota
ZIP56055
Coordinates44.10689, -94.21970

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasCoalOilHydroelectricSolarBiomass

Generators (4)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
3Petroleum LiquidsDistillate Oil2.0 MWOperating1971
5Petroleum LiquidsDistillate Oil2.0 MWOperating1999
4Petroleum LiquidsDistillate Oil1.2 MWOperating1955
1Petroleum LiquidsDistillate Oil0.6 MWOperating1952

Emissions (annual)

CO₂8 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1742 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,742 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionMRO
Balancing AuthorityMidcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc..

About Oil plants

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.

Other plants in Blue Earth County

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