Santa Clara Cogen

Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 37.3643, -121.9442.

GasCaliforniaUnited States of America

Santa Clara Cogen is a 8 MW gas power plant in California, United States of America. It is operated by City of Santa Clara - (CA). Based on reported annual generation of 46 GWh, it can supply roughly 13,257 homes. It ranks #5022 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1982, it is around 44 years old — long-established. 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).

8MW installed capacity
46GWh reported / yr
13,257homes powered
1982commissioned (~44 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0007232.

~18,560 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

4,326passenger cars driven for a year
2,420homes' yearly energy use
309,333tree 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: 50 GWh20132014: 0 GWh20142015: 0 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 46 GWh201950 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by City of Santa Clara - (CA). 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 warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

15.8°Cannual mean temp
1,088heating degree-days (base 18°C)
311cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
71 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 10 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 13 °CMA: 15 °CAM: 17 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 18 °CON: 13 °CND: 10 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 56% 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: 27/100 — 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 ~1% 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 #1478 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 37.3643, -121.9442 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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