1027th largest plant in California · 8089th nationally
W Plant is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 4.6 MW. It generates roughly 32.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,102 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 81% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 688 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | W Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Qualcomm Incorporated |
| City | San Diego |
| County | San Diego County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92121 |
| Coordinates | 32.90333, -117.19556 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W-TG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 4.6 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 11.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 31 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 688 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.