17th largest plant in Hawaii · 3543rd nationally
Puna Geothermal Venture I is a geothermal power plant in Hawaii with a nameplate capacity of 51.0 MW. It generates roughly 192.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 18,341 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 43% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 89 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Puna Geothermal Venture I |
|---|---|
| Operator | Puna Geothermal Venture |
| City | Pahoa |
| County | Hawaii County |
| State | Hawaii |
| ZIP | 96778 |
| Coordinates | 19.47898, -154.88836 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OEC31 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 8.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| OEC32 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 8.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| OEC11 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC12 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Out of Service | 1992 |
| OEC13 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC14 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC15 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC21 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC22 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC23 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC24 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| OEC25 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 3.5 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| CO₂ | 8.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| CO₂ Rate | 89 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.
Geothermal plants tap heat from underground reservoirs to spin steam turbines. They provide carbon-free baseload power with very high capacity factors, but they only work where hot rock is accessible — primarily in the western U.S.