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West Campus Steam Plant

Gas power plant in Pennsylvania, United States of America. Approximate location 40.7928, -77.8647.

GasPennsylvaniaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

West Campus Steam Plant is a 5 MW gas power plant in Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is operated by Penn State University. Based on reported annual generation of 13 GWh, it can supply roughly 3,657 homes. It ranks #5602 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2017, it is around 9 years old — relatively modern. Its measured emissions of 21,984 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 5,124 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).

5MW installed capacity
13GWh reported / yr
3,657homes powered
21,984t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
2017commissioned (~9 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0058194.

21,984 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

5,124passenger cars driven for a year
2,867homes' yearly energy use
366,400tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 13 GWh20132014: 12 GWh20142015: 4 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 13 GWh20182019: 13 GWh201913 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Penn State University. 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 40.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.0°Cannual mean temp
3,450heating degree-days (base 18°C)
181cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
470 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 14 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 21 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 10 °CON: 5 °CND: -1 °CD21 °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: 75/100 — 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 #1565 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 40.7928, -77.8647 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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