16th largest plant in Florida · 154th nationally
Polk is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 1,493 MW. It generates roughly 5.8M MWh per year — enough to power about 556,945 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 45% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 809 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,493 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 | Polk |
|---|---|
| Operator | Tampa Electric Co |
| City | Mulberry |
| County | Polk County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 33860 |
| Coordinates | 27.72860, -81.98970 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 600 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 600 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 2CC | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 513 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 463 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 196 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 1CT | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 195 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 176 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 176 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 1CA | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| CO₂ | 2.4M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 29 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 246 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 809 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Tampa Electric Company |
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.