23rd largest plant in Illinois · 580th nationally
Nelson Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 628 MW. It generates roughly 2.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 274,503 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 52% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 852 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 (628 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 | Nelson Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Invenergy Services Llc |
| City | Rock Falls |
| County | Lee County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 61071 |
| Coordinates | 41.77444, -89.60722 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 182 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 179 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| ST2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| CO₂ | 1.2M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 166 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 852 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.