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Lonesome Creek Station

Gas power plant in North Dakota, United States of America. Approximate location 47.7967, -103.5786.

GasNorth DakotaUnited States of America

Lonesome Creek Station is a 302 MW gas power station in North Dakota, United States of America. It is operated by Basin Electric Power Coop. Based on reported annual generation of 862 GWh, it can supply roughly 246,257 homes. It ranks #937 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. 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).

302MW installed capacity
862GWh reported / yr
246,257homes powered
2015commissioned (~11 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0057943.

~344,760 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

80,364passenger cars driven for a year
44,961homes' yearly energy use
5,746,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical gas emission factor (~400 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: 15 GWh20132014: 99 GWh20142015: 465 GWh20152016: 657 GWh20162017: 349 GWh20172018: 571 GWh20182019: 862 GWh2019862 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Basin Electric Power Coop. 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 cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 47.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.9°Cannual mean temp
4,585heating degree-days (base 18°C)
185cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
678 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -11 °CJF: -7 °CFM: -1 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 7 °CON: -2 °CND: -9 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 87% 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: 91/100 — 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.

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 #573 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 47.7967, -103.5786 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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