26th largest plant in Illinois · 623rd nationally
Zion Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 597 MW. It generates roughly 310.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 29,573 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 6% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1339 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Zion Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Zion Energy Llc |
| City | Zion |
| County | Lake County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60099 |
| Coordinates | 42.47760, -87.89500 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CTG3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CTG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| CTG5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| CO₂ | 207.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 59 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1339 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.