98th largest plant in Texas · 746th nationally
Oyster Creek Unit Viii is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 498 MW. It generates roughly 2.7M MWh per year — enough to power about 255,868 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 62% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 710 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (498 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 | Oyster Creek Unit Viii |
|---|---|
| Operator | Dow Chemical Company-Oyster Creek Viii |
| City | Freeport |
| County | Brazoria County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77547 |
| Coordinates | 28.98020, -95.34200 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G84 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 201 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| G81 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 99.0 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| G82 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 99.0 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| G83 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 99.0 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Engie North America | Houston, TX | 5000.0% |
| Fengate Asset Management | Houston, TX | 5000.0% |
| Toyota Tsusho Corporation | New York, NY | 5000.0% |
| Ge Energy Financial Services | Stamford, CT | 5000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 953.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 2.6k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 710 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, Inc. |
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.