Coal Creek

Coal power plant in North Dakota, United States of America. Approximate location 47.3777, -101.1571.

CoalNorth DakotaUnited States of America

Coal Creek is a 1,216 MW coal power station in North Dakota, United States of America. It is operated by Great River Energy. Based on reported annual generation of 8,193 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,340,742 homes. It ranks #228 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1979, it is around 47 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

1,216MW installed capacity
8,193GWh reported / yr
2,340,742homes powered
1979commissioned (~47 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0006030.

~8,192,600 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,909,697passenger cars driven for a year
1,068,414homes' yearly energy use
136,543,333tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 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: 8,193 GWh20198k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Great River Energy. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 47.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.4°Cannual mean temp
4,721heating degree-days (base 18°C)
146cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
557 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -12 °CJF: -8 °CFM: -2 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 7 °CON: -2 °CND: -9 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 92% above 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: 92/100 — this site sits in the top 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.

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 #86 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 47.3777, -101.1571 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.