60th largest plant in Texas · 505th nationally
Sand Hill is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 696 MW. It generates roughly 1.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 177,319 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 31% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 991 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 (696 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 | Sand Hill |
|---|---|
| Operator | Austin Energy |
| City | Austin |
| County | Travis County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78617 |
| Coordinates | 30.20980, -97.61290 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 198 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 5C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| SH1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| SH2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| SH3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| SH4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| SH6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| SH7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 51.4 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CO₂ | 922.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 100 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 991 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.