Oil power plant in Virginia, United States of America. Approximate location 37.9892, -75.54.
OilVirginiaUnited States of AmericaOCGTMothballed
Commonwealth Chesapeake is a 402 MW oil power station in Virginia, United States of America. It is operated by Commonwealth Chesapeake Co LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 14 GWh, it can supply roughly 3.9k homes. It ranks #1424 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2000, it is around 26 years old — long-established. In context, oil supplies about 0.7% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0055381.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: Wikidata P2109 nameplate capacity; fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 402 MW, Commonwealth Chesapeake is well above the median oil plant in United States of America (7 MW). Technically it is described as OCGT. Its current lifecycle status is “mothballed” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Oil-fired plants burn heavy fuel oil or diesel, usually as peaking or backup capacity on islands and grids without gas pipelines; high fuel cost keeps their utilisation low.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Commonwealth Chesapeake Co LLC.
This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 38.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 14% 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: 45/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #24 largest oil power plant of 902 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 902 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 40,022 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 37.9892, -75.54 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Commonwealth Chesapeake is a 402 MW source-record oil power plant in Virginia, United States of America, commissioned in 2000.
Commonwealth Chesapeake generates about 14 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 3,942 homes.
Commonwealth Chesapeake is operated by Commonwealth Chesapeake Co LLC.
