Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 39.0531, -121.6959.
GasCaliforniaUnited States of AmericaCCGT · HRSGCO₂ measured
Sutter Energy Center is a 636 MW gas power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by Calpine Corp-Sutter. Based on reported annual generation of 653 GWh, it can supply roughly 187k homes. It ranks #1056 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2001, it is around 25 years old — relatively modern. Its annual emissions of 841,348 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 196k 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 USA0055112.
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 L100000401764); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 636 MW, Sutter Energy Center 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 Calpine Corp-Sutter.
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 39.1°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 50% 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: 29/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
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.
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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), 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 #454 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 39.0531, -121.6959 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Sutter Energy Center is a 636 MW source-record gas power plant in California, United States of America, commissioned in 2001.
Sutter Energy Center generates about 653 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 186,600 homes.
Sutter Energy Center is operated by Calpine Corp-Sutter.
Sutter Energy Center has measured emissions of about 841,348 tonnes of CO₂ per year (US EPA GHGRP).
