8th largest plant in Nevada · 544th nationally
Silverhawk is a natural gas power plant in Nevada with a nameplate capacity of 665 MW. It generates roughly 2.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 244,785 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 868 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 (665 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 | Silverhawk |
|---|---|
| Operator | Nevada Power Co |
| City | North Las Vegas |
| County | Clark County |
| State | Nevada |
| ZIP | 89124 |
| Coordinates | 36.40780, -114.96060 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 270 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 228 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| CT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 228 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 1.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 91 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 868 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 |
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.