246th largest plant in Florida · 5480th nationally
South Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 11.5 MW. It generates roughly 44.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 4,193 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 580 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | South Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Gainesville Regional Utilities |
| City | Gainesville |
| County | Alachua County |
| State | Florida |
| ZIP | 32608 |
| Coordinates | 29.63830, -82.34000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REG1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 7.4 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 4.1 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| CO₂ | 12.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 255 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 580 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 | Gainesville Regional Utilities |
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.