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Kern River Cogeneration

Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 35.4515, -118.9849.

GasCaliforniaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Kern River Cogeneration is a 300 MW gas power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by Kern River Cogeneration Co. Based on reported annual generation of 631 GWh, it can supply roughly 180,314 homes. It ranks #950 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1985, it is around 41 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 435,920 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 101,613 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).

300MW installed capacity
631GWh reported / yr
180,314homes powered
435,920t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1985commissioned (~41 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0010496.

435,920 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

101,613passenger cars driven for a year
56,849homes' yearly energy use
7,265,333tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 1,285 GWh20132014: 744 GWh20142015: 719 GWh20152016: 692 GWh20162017: 703 GWh20172018: 730 GWh20182019: 631 GWh20191k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Kern River Cogeneration Co.

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 35.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

18.6°Cannual mean temp
1,027heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,258cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
221 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 9 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 14 °CMA: 17 °CAM: 22 °CMJ: 26 °CJJ: 29 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 25 °CSO: 20 °CON: 13 °CND: 9 °CD29 °C

Heating degree-days here run 58% 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: 26/100 — 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 ~3% 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 #580 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 35.4515, -118.9849 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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