5th largest plant in Arizona · 187th nationally
Santan is a natural gas power plant in Arizona with a nameplate capacity of 1,326 MW. It generates roughly 5.7M MWh per year — enough to power about 542,595 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 49% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 719 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,326 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 | Santan |
|---|---|
| Operator | Salt River Project |
| City | Gilbert |
| County | Maricopa County |
| State | Arizona |
| ZIP | 85296 |
| Coordinates | 33.33250, -111.75030 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST5S | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 315 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| ST5A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 154 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| ST5B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 154 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| ST6A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 154 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| ST6S | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 136 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| ST2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| ST3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| ST4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 104 MW | Operating | 1975 |
| CO₂ | 2.0M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 10 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 105 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 719 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 | Salt River Project |
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.