3rd largest plant in Florida · 12th nationally
Manatee is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 2,951 MW. It generates roughly 6.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 632,384 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 26% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 804 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 (2,951 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 | Manatee |
|---|---|
| Operator | Florida Power & Light Co |
| City | Parrish |
| County | Manatee County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 34219 |
| Coordinates | 27.60580, -82.34560 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 863 MW | Operating | 1976 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 863 MW | Operating | 1977 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 472 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| D | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 2.7M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 20 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 203 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 804 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 | Florida Power & Light 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.