Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 33.1197, -117.1178.
GasCaliforniaUnited States of AmericaCCGT · HRSGCO₂ measured
Palomar Energy is a 559 MW gas power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Based on reported annual generation of 1,183 GWh, it can supply roughly 338k homes. It ranks #1188 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2005, it is around 21 years old — relatively modern. Its annual emissions of 488,006 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 114k 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0055985.
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: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000402268); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 559 MW, Palomar Energy is well above the median gas plant in United States of America (121 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions per US EPA GHGRP (measured for US EPA/EU ETS, modelled for Climate TRACE).
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 33.1°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 71% 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: 23/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~2% 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.
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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), 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 #529 largest gas power plant of 2165 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 2165 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 789,950 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 33.1197, -117.1178 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Palomar Energy is a 559 MW source-record gas power plant in California, United States of America, commissioned in 2005.
Palomar Energy generates about 1,183 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 337,942 homes.
Palomar Energy is operated by San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
Palomar Energy has measured emissions of about 488,006 tonnes of CO₂ per year (US EPA GHGRP).
