125th largest plant in Virginia · 4943rd nationally
Radford Army Ammunition Plant is a natural gas power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 18.0 MW. It generates roughly 32.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,070 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 20% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 731 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 (18.0 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 | Radford Army Ammunition Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | U.s. Army - Radford |
| City | Radford |
| County | Montgomery County |
| State | Virginia |
| ZIP | 24141 |
| Coordinates | 37.18044, -80.54277 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Retired | 1990 |
| CO₂ | 11.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 731 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.