38th largest plant in New Jersey · 4579th nationally
Merck Rahway Power Plant is a natural gas power plant in New Jersey with a nameplate capacity of 20.8 MW. It generates roughly 42.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 4,029 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 23% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 644 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (20.8 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 | Merck Rahway Power Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Merck & Co Inc |
| City | Rahway |
| County | Union County |
| State | New Jersey |
| ZIP | 07065 |
| Coordinates | 40.61562, -74.26529 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN9 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 10.8 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| GEN8 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.0 MW | Out of Service | 1977 |
| GEN9A | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 4.5 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| GEN7 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 4.0 MW | Retired | 1968 |
| SOLAR | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.5 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 13.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 644 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.