70th largest plant in California · 1037th nationally
Sycamore Cogeneration is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 300 MW. It generates roughly 574.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 54,701 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 22% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 700 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Sycamore Cogeneration |
|---|---|
| Operator | Sycamore Cogeneration Co |
| City | Bakersfield |
| County | Kern County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93380 |
| Coordinates | 35.45258, -118.98531 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTAG | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1987 |
| GTBG | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1987 |
| GTCG | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1987 |
| GTDG | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1987 |
| CO₂ | 201.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 550 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 700 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 | California Independent System Operator |
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.