54th largest plant in Tennessee · 4924th nationally
Vanderbilt University Power Plant is a natural gas power plant in Tennessee with a nameplate capacity of 18.7 MW. It generates roughly 94.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 8,980 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 589 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Vanderbilt University Power Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Vanderbilt University |
| City | Nashville |
| County | Davidson County |
| State | Tennessee |
| ZIP | 37240 |
| Coordinates | 36.14590, -86.80383 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.2 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| GEN1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 6.5 MW | Retired | 1988 |
| GT1B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.3 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.2 MW | Retired | 2002 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.2 MW | Out of Service | 2002 |
| GEN2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 4.5 MW | Retired | 1989 |
| CO₂ | 27.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 76 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 589 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 | Tennessee Valley Authority |
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.