Yorktown

Oil power plant in Virginia, United States of America. Approximate location 37.2144, -76.4611.

OilVirginiaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Yorktown is a 882 MW oil power station in Virginia, United States of America. It is operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 62 GWh, it can supply roughly 17,571 homes. It ranks #377 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1975, it is around 51 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its measured emissions of 1,733 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 404 cars driven for a year. 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).

882MW installed capacity
62GWh reported / yr
17,571homes powered
1,733t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1975commissioned (~51 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0003809.

1,733 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

404passenger cars driven for a year
226homes' yearly energy use
28,883tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to US EPA GHGRP.

Reported generation trend

2013: 917 GWh20132014: 1,068 GWh20142015: 565 GWh20152016: 480 GWh20162017: 87 GWh20172018: 626 GWh20182019: 62 GWh20191k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

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 37.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

15.4°Cannual mean temp
1,762heating degree-days (base 18°C)
829cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
9 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 4 °CJF: 6 °CFM: 10 °CMA: 14 °CAM: 19 °CMJ: 24 °CJJ: 26 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 16 °CON: 11 °CND: 6 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 28% 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: 39/100 — 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #7 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.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 37.2144, -76.4611 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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