460th largest plant in California · 3774th nationally
Ormesa Iii is a geothermal power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 45.6 MW. It generates roughly 68.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,525 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 17% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Ormesa Iii |
|---|---|
| Operator | Ormat Nevada Inc |
| City | Holtville |
| County | Imperial County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92250 |
| Coordinates | 32.77570, -115.26370 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 21.6 MW | Out of Service | 1989 |
| OE301 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 16.0 MW | Operating | 2020 |
| GBU | Geothermal | Geothermal | 8.0 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| 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.