15th largest plant in South Carolina · 452nd nationally
Urquhart is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 759 MW. It generates roughly 1.8M MWh per year — enough to power about 171,358 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 27% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1065 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 (759 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 | Urquhart |
|---|---|
| Operator | Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc |
| City | Beech Island |
| County | Aiken County |
| State | South Carolina |
| ZIP | 29842 |
| Coordinates | 33.43500, -81.91110 |
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 Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 1955 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1953 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 75.0 MW | Operating | 1954 |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 58.9 MW | Operating | 1999 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 19.6 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 16.3 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 16.3 MW | Operating | 1969 |
| CO₂ | 958.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 225 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1065 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 | Dominion Energy South Carolina |
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.