178th largest plant in Texas · 1140th nationally
Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur Refinery is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 277 MW. It generates roughly 1.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 132,912 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 957 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 (277 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 | Motiva Enterprises Port Arthur Refinery |
|---|---|
| Operator | Motiva Enterprises Llc |
| City | Port Arthur |
| County | Jefferson County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77640 |
| Coordinates | 29.88846, -93.95098 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GN41 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 41.6 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| GN42 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 41.6 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| GN43 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 41.6 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| GN44 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 41.6 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| GN35 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.5 MW | Operating | 1983 |
| GN33 | Other Gases | Other Gas | 25.5 MW | Operating | 1978 |
| GN27 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 21.3 MW | Retired | 1984 |
| GN26 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Retired | 1970 |
| GN34 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 1970 |
| GN32 | Other Gases | Other Gas | 15.6 MW | Operating | 1957 |
| GN31 | Other Gases | Other Gas | 10.0 MW | Operating | 1962 |
| CO₂ | 667.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 530 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 957 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 | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.