51st largest plant in Hawaii · 6341st nationally
Waimea is a oil power plant in Hawaii with a nameplate capacity of 7.5 MW. It generates roughly 1.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 157 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1725 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Waimea |
|---|---|
| Operator | Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc |
| City | Kamuela |
| County | Hawaii County |
| State | Hawaii |
| ZIP | 96743 |
| Coordinates | 20.02520, -155.69550 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.5 MW | Operating | 1970 |
| 13 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.5 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| 14 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.5 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| 10 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| 8 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| 9 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| CO₂ | 1.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 29 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1725 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.
Oil-fired plants typically run only during peak demand or grid emergencies because oil is expensive compared to gas and coal. They have the highest CO₂ emissions per MWh of any common generation technology.