22nd largest plant in South Dakota · 2053rd nationally
Spirit Mound is a oil power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 135 MW. It generates roughly 8.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 841 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 2208 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Spirit Mound |
|---|---|
| Operator | Basin Electric Power Coop |
| City | Vermillion |
| County | Clay County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57069 |
| Coordinates | 42.89766, -96.99049 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 67.5 MW | Operating | 1978 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 67.5 MW | Operating | 1978 |
| CO₂ | 9.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 30 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 55 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2208 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Southwest Power Pool |
Oil-fired plants typically run only during peak demand or grid emergencies because oil is expensive compared to gas and coal. They have the highest CO₂ emissions per MWh of any common generation technology.