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West County Energy Center

Gas power plant in Florida, United States of America. Approximate location 26.6986, -80.3747.

GasFloridaUnited States of America

West County Energy Center is a 4,263 MW gas power station in Florida, United States of America. It is operated by Florida Power & Light Co. Based on reported annual generation of 21,486 GWh, it can supply roughly 6,138,857 homes. It ranks #2 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2009, it is around 17 years old — relatively modern. 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).

4,263MW installed capacity
21,486GWh reported / yr
6,138,857homes powered
2009commissioned (~17 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0056407.

~8,594,400 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

2,003,357passenger cars driven for a year
1,120,814homes' yearly energy use
143,240,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × 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.

Reported generation trend

2013: 21,658 GWh20132014: 19,765 GWh20142015: 20,428 GWh20152016: 20,298 GWh20162017: 20,515 GWh20172018: 19,841 GWh20182019: 21,486 GWh201922k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Florida Power & Light Co. 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 tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 26.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

23.6°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
2,045cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
9 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 19 °CFM: 21 °CMA: 23 °CAM: 25 °CMJ: 27 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 27 °CSO: 25 °CON: 22 °CND: 20 °CD28 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% 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: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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 ~6% 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 #1 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 26.6986, -80.3747 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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