89th largest plant in Nevada · 5452nd nationally
San Emidio is a geothermal power plant in Nevada with a nameplate capacity of 11.8 MW. It generates roughly 83.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 7,900 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 80% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 89 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | San Emidio |
|---|---|
| Operator | Usg Nevada Llc |
| City | Gerlach |
| County | Washoe County |
| State | Nevada |
| ZIP | 89412 |
| Coordinates | 40.38056, -119.39972 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE-U1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 11.8 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CO₂ | 3.7k 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 | Nevada Power Company |
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.