Ellwood

Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 34.4314, -119.9001.

GasCaliforniaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Ellwood is a 58 MW gas power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by GenOn California South LP. Based on reported annual generation of 4 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,000 homes. It ranks #2577 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its measured emissions of 84,281 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 19,646 cars driven for a year. 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).

58MW installed capacity
4GWh reported / yr
1,000homes powered
84,281t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0008076.

84,281 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

19,646passenger cars driven for a year
10,991homes' yearly energy use
1,404,683tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 1 GWh20132014: 1 GWh20142015: 6 GWh20152016: 4 GWh20162017: 9 GWh20172018: 6 GWh20182019: 4 GWh20199 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by GenOn California South LP. All plants by this company →

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 warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

15.5°Cannual mean temp
1,066heating degree-days (base 18°C)
175cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
259 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 12 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 12 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 17 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 18 °CON: 14 °CND: 12 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 57% 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: 27/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 #1028 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 34.4314, -119.9001 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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