Onondaga County Resource Recovery

🌿 BiomassCommercial Non-CHP39 MW capacity

118th largest plant in New York · 3939th nationally

Onondaga County Resource Recovery is a biomass power plant in New York with a nameplate capacity of 39.5 MW. It generates roughly 224.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 21,416 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 65% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1953 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%65%
Mid-merit — steady but not full-time

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 12.7k MWh (43% of capacity)JFeb: 12.5k MWh (47% of capacity)FMar: 20.2k MWh (69% of capacity)MApr: 16.6k MWh (59% of capacity)AMay: 19.3k MWh (66% of capacity)MJun: 16.5k MWh (58% of capacity)JJul: 16.0k MWh (55% of capacity)JAug: 18.8k MWh (64% of capacity)ASep: 17.9k MWh (63% of capacity)SOct: 18.8k MWh (64% of capacity)ONov: 17.4k MWh (61% of capacity)NDec: 20.3k MWh (69% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (39.5 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.

Capacity40 MWnameplate
Annual Generation224.9k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor65%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂219.6kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameOnondaga County Resource Recovery
OperatorCovanta Onondega Lp
CityJamesville
CountyOnondaga County
StateNew York
ZIP13078
Coordinates43.00470, -76.11490

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolarBiomass

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
GEN1Municipal Solid WasteMunicipal Waste39.5 MWOperating1994

Emissions (annual)

CO₂219.6k metric tons
SO₂307 metric tons
NOₓ585 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1953 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,952 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionNPCC
Balancing AuthorityNew York Independent System Operator

About Biomass plants

Biomass plants burn wood, agricultural waste, or methane from landfills to generate steam and electricity. They are considered carbon-neutral over long timescales when fuel is sustainably sourced, but they produce particulate emissions similar to coal.

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