8th largest plant in Minnesota · 637th nationally
Riverside (Mn) is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 586 MW. It generates roughly 2.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 235,151 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 48% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 847 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 (586 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 | Riverside (Mn) |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota |
| City | Minneapolis |
| County | Hennepin County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55401 |
| Coordinates | 45.02030, -93.27530 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 239 MW | Retired | 1964 |
| 10 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 211 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 211 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| ST7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 165 MW | Operating | 1987 |
| CO₂ | 1.0M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 157 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 847 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.