Princeton University Cogeneration

🔥 Natural GasCommercial CHP32 MW capacity

34th largest plant in New Jersey · 4111th nationally

Princeton University Cogeneration is a natural gas power plant in New Jersey with a nameplate capacity of 32.1 MW. It generates roughly 54.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 5,146 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 19% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 476 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%19%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity32 MWnameplate
Annual Generation54.0k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor19%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂12.9kmetric tons

Location

Plant NamePrinceton University Cogeneration
OperatorTrustees Of Princeton University
CityPrinceton
CountyMercer County
StateNew Jersey
ZIP08543
Coordinates40.34139, -74.65722

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolar

Generators (5)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
GT1Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas15.5 MWOperating1996
PV3Solar PhotovoltaicSolar10.5 MWOperating2022
PV1Solar PhotovoltaicSolar4.5 MWOperating2012
PV2Solar PhotovoltaicSolar1.2 MWOperating2021
PV4Solar PhotovoltaicSolar0.4 MWOperating2022

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Key Government Finance, Inc.Superior, CO10000.0%
Tiger Solar Partners, LlcWest Lebanon, NH10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂12.9k metric tons
NOₓ35 metric tons
CO₂ Rate476 lb/MWh
This plant475 lb/MWhU.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionRFC
Balancing AuthorityPjm Interconnection, Llc

About Natural Gas plants

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.

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