321st largest plant in Texas · 1623rd nationally
Sam Rayburn is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 193 MW. It generates roughly 314.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 29,928 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 19% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1008 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 (193 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 | Sam Rayburn |
|---|---|
| Operator | South Texas Electric Coop, Inc |
| City | Nursery |
| County | Victoria County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77976 |
| Coordinates | 28.89470, -97.13500 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 49.2 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 49.2 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 49.2 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 10 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 42.0 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Retired | 1965 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 11.2 MW | Retired | 1963 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 11.2 MW | Retired | 1963 |
| 4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.6 MW | Operating | 1991 |
| 5 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.6 MW | Operating | 1991 |
| CO₂ | 158.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 26 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1008 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, 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.