119th largest plant in Illinois · 3375th nationally
University Of Illinois Cogen Facility is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 59.9 MW. It generates roughly 107.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 10,248 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 21% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 626 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | University Of Illinois Cogen Facility |
|---|---|
| Operator | University Of Illinois |
| City | Chicago |
| County | Cook County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60680 |
| Coordinates | 41.86750, -87.65240 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.8 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.8 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.8 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.3 MW | Operating | 1993 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.3 MW | Operating | 1993 |
| RE1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 5.5 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| RE2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 5.5 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| RE3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 5.5 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.7 MW | Out of Service | 2000 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.7 MW | Out of Service | 2000 |
| CO₂ | 33.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 133 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 626 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.