158th largest plant in North Carolina · 5507th nationally
Ncsu Cates Cogeneration Plant is a natural gas power plant in North Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 11.2 MW. It generates roughly 76.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 7,272 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 78% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1146 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Ncsu Cates Cogeneration Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Nc State University, Energy Systems |
| City | Raleigh |
| County | Wake County |
| State | North Carolina |
| ZIP | 27695 |
| Coordinates | 35.78403, -78.67470 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.6 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.6 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CO₂ | 43.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 120 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1146 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 | Duke Energy Progress East |
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.