395th largest plant in California · 3494th nationally
Salton Sea Power Gen Co - Unit 3 is a geothermal power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 53.9 MW. It generates roughly 336.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 32,048 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 71% 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 | Salton Sea Power Gen Co - Unit 3 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Calenergy Operating Corporation |
| City | Calipatria |
| County | Imperial County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92233 |
| Coordinates | 33.15815, -115.63866 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 53.9 MW | Operating | 1989 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ce Generation | Omaha, NE | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 14.9k 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.
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Imperial Irrigation District |
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.