306th largest plant in California · 2812th nationally
North Brawley Geothermal Plant is a geothermal power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 80.0 MW. It generates roughly 28.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,686 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | North Brawley Geothermal Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Ormat Nevada Inc |
| City | Brawley |
| County | Imperial County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92250 |
| Coordinates | 33.01390, -115.54390 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GE1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Out of Service | 2009 |
| GE2 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Out of Service | 2009 |
| GE3 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Out of Service | 2009 |
| GE4 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Out of Service | 2009 |
| GE5 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Imperial Irrigation District |
Geothermal plants tap heat from underground reservoirs to spin steam turbines. They provide carbon-free baseload power with very high capacity factors, but they only work where hot rock is accessible — primarily in the western U.S.