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Suncor Utility Plant

Gas power plant in Ontario, Canada. Approximate location 45.4019, -75.6557.

GasOntarioCanada

Suncor Utility Plant is a 70 MW gas power plant in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by TransAlta. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 78,840 homes (estimated). It ranks #304 of 1,159 Canada power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1967, it is around 59 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, gas supplies about 17.8% of Canada's electricity; the national grid averages 191 gCO₂/kWh (77.0% low-carbon) (2025).

70MW installed capacity
78,840homes powered (est.)
1967commissioned (~59 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CAN1060928.

~110,376 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

25,729passenger cars driven for a year
14,394homes' yearly energy use
1,839,600tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 45% load factor × 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.

Capacity vs largest gas plants in Canada

Lennox: 2,000 MW2kLennoxGreenfield Energy Centre: 1,005 MW1kGreenfield…Burrard: 950 MW950BurrardGoreway: 875 MW875GorewayShepard: 873 MW873ShepardHalton Hills: 712 MW712Halton Hil…Queen Elizabeth: 634 MW634Queen Eliz…Portlands: 624 MW624Portlands

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by TransAlta. 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 humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 45.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

5.8°Cannual mean temp
4,548heating degree-days (base 18°C)
133cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
71 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -11 °CJF: -10 °CFM: -3 °CMA: 5 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 15 °CSO: 8 °CON: 2 °CND: -7 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 85% 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 #68 largest gas power plant of 75 in Canada by capacity.

Canada has 75 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 19,786 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 45.4019, -75.6557 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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