Oil power plant in South Carolina, United States of America. Approximate location 34.8894, -81.0725.
OilSouth CarolinaUnited States of America
Thermal Kem is a 3 MW oil power plant in South Carolina, United States of America. It is operated by Central Electric Power. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2,177 homes (estimated). It ranks #7268 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2003, it is around 23 years old — relatively modern. In context, oil supplies about 0.7% 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 USA0056129.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 30% load factor × a typical oil emission factor (~750 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Central Electric Power. All plants by this company →
This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.9°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 34% 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: 36/100 — this site sits in the mid 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.
The #658 largest oil power plant of 876 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 876 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 37,143 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 34.8894, -81.0725 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
