Holcomb

Coal power plant in Kansas, United States of America. Approximate location 37.9308, -100.9725.

CoalKansasUnited States of America

Holcomb is a 349 MW coal power station in Kansas, United States of America. It is operated by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. Based on reported annual generation of 1,570 GWh, it can supply roughly 448,428 homes. It ranks #881 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1983, it is around 43 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).

349MW installed capacity
1,570GWh reported / yr
448,428homes powered
1983commissioned (~43 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000108.

~1,569,500 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

365,851passenger cars driven for a year
204,682homes' yearly energy use
26,158,333tree 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: 2,166 GWh20132014: 1,982 GWh20142015: 1,444 GWh20152016: 1,594 GWh20162017: 1,006 GWh20172018: 1,472 GWh20182019: 1,570 GWh20192k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. 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 cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

12.2°Cannual mean temp
2,717heating degree-days (base 18°C)
637cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
884 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -1 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 6 °CMA: 12 °CAM: 17 °CMJ: 23 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 13 °CON: 5 °CND: 0 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 11% 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: 55/100 — 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.

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 #188 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 37.9308, -100.9725 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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