Waukegan

Coal power plant in Illinois, United States of America. Approximate location 42.3833, -87.8133.

CoalIllinoisUnited States of America

Waukegan is a 794 MW coal power station in Illinois, United States of America. It is operated by Midwest Generations EME LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 1,194 GWh, it can supply roughly 341,114 homes. It ranks #436 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1961, it is around 65 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).

794MW installed capacity
1,194GWh reported / yr
341,114homes powered
1961commissioned (~65 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000883.

~1,193,900 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

278,298passenger cars driven for a year
155,699homes' yearly energy use
19,898,333tree 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: 3,509 GWh20132014: 2,787 GWh20142015: 1,796 GWh20152016: 1,773 GWh20162017: 1,840 GWh20172018: 1,637 GWh20182019: 1,194 GWh20194k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Midwest Generations EME 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 hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.1°Cannual mean temp
3,431heating degree-days (base 18°C)
218cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
179 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 7 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 12 °CON: 5 °CND: -1 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 40% 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: 74/100 — 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.

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 #124 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 42.3833, -87.8133 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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