Chino Mines

Gas power plant in New Mexico, United States of America. Approximate location 32.6956, -108.1225.

GasNew MexicoUnited States of America

Chino Mines is a 54 MW gas power plant in New Mexico, United States of America. It is operated by FreePort-McMoRan-Corp-Chino Mines. Based on reported annual generation of 4 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,257 homes. It ranks #2634 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1988, it is around 38 years old — long-established. In context, gas supplies about 40.0% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

54MW installed capacity
4GWh reported / yr
1,257homes powered
1988commissioned (~38 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0054667.

~1,760 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

410passenger cars driven for a year
230homes' yearly energy use
29,333tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical gas emission factor (~400 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2013: 0 GWh20132014: 0 GWh20142015: 0 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 4 GWh20194 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by FreePort-McMoRan-Corp-Chino Mines.

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 32.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

14.1°Cannual mean temp
1,974heating degree-days (base 18°C)
582cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,582 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 4 °CJF: 7 °CFM: 9 °CMA: 13 °CAM: 18 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 23 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 15 °CON: 8 °CND: 5 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 20% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 43/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #1046 largest gas power plant of 1818 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1818 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 546,436 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 32.6956, -108.1225 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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