R S Nelson

Coal power plant in Louisiana, United States of America. Approximate location 30.2844, -93.2911.

CoalLouisianaUnited States of America

R S Nelson is a 1,434 MW coal power station in Louisiana, United States of America. It is operated by Entergy Louisiana LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 3,211 GWh, it can supply roughly 917,485 homes. It ranks #167 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1973, it is around 53 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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).

1,434MW installed capacity
3,211GWh reported / yr
917,485homes powered
1973commissioned (~53 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001393.

~3,211,200 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

748,531passenger cars driven for a year
418,779homes' yearly energy use
53,520,000tree 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: 6,069 GWh20132014: 5,023 GWh20142015: 4,036 GWh20152016: 4,149 GWh20162017: 4,280 GWh20172018: 4,283 GWh20182019: 3,211 GWh20196k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Entergy Louisiana LLC. 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 humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 30.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

19.9°Cannual mean temp
713heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,414cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
10 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 10 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 16 °CMA: 20 °CAM: 24 °CMJ: 27 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 26 °CSO: 21 °CON: 16 °CND: 12 °CD28 °C

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.

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 #68 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 30.2844, -93.2911 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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