10th largest plant in Florida · 50th nationally
Sanford is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 2,378 MW. It generates roughly 7.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 754,873 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 38% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 841 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 (2,378 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 | Sanford |
|---|---|
| Operator | Florida Power & Light Co |
| City | Debary |
| County | Volusia County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 32713 |
| Coordinates | 28.84190, -81.32560 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 436 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 436 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 4A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 4B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 4C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 4D | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 5A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 5B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 5C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 5D | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | Residual Oil | 156 MW | Retired | 1959 |
| CO₂ | 3.3M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 17 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 758 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 841 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Florida Power & Light Company |
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.