169th largest plant in Minnesota · 6462nd nationally
Poet Biorefining Lake Crystal is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 7.0 MW. It generates roughly 2.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 262 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 677 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 (7.0 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 | Poet Biorefining Lake Crystal |
|---|---|
| Operator | Poet Biorefining Lake Crystal |
| City | Lake Crystal |
| County | Blue Earth County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 56055 |
| Coordinates | 44.09333, -94.27667 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 6.0 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 1.0 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 934 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 677 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, 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.