21st largest plant in Oregon · 1354th nationally
Port Westward Unit 2 is a natural gas power plant in Oregon with a nameplate capacity of 226 MW. It generates roughly 1.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 111,657 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 59% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 998 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Port Westward Unit 2 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Portland General Electric Co |
| City | Clatskanie |
| County | Columbia County |
| State | Oregon |
| ZIP | 97016 |
| Coordinates | 46.17889, -123.17194 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 10 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 11 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 12 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| CO₂ | 585.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 16 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 12.6k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 998 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Portland General 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.