Salton Sea Power Gen Co - Unit 3
Imperial County, California · EIA plant ID 10759 · Operator: CalEnergy Operating Corporation
Nameplate54MWSummer 50 MW
Generators1in service
Net generation289GWh12 mo to Dec 2025
Capacity factor66%geothermal units, summer MW
Heat rate—thermal plants only
First online1989
Monthly net generation
EIA-923, all units at the plant. Net of station use; storage can go negative.
FinalPreliminary
Capacity factor by year
Net MWh ÷ (summer MW × hours), geothermal units. Each year uses that year's EIA-860 ratings; the hollow dot is the latest 12 months.
Heat rate by year
Electric fuel MMBtu × 1000 ÷ net MWh (Btu/kWh, HHV), fossil units only; CT + CA counted as one combined-cycle block.
Heat rate applies to fuel-burning (thermal) units only.
Annual data table
| Year | Net GWh | Capacity factor | Heat rate (Btu/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 370 | 88.9% | — |
| 2002 | 369.7 | 88.8% | — |
| 2003 | 279.8 | 67.3% | — |
| 2004 | 386.2 | 92.6% | — |
| 2005 | 406.7 | 97.8% | — |
| 2006 | 387.2 | 93.0% | — |
| 2007 | 379.9 | 91.3% | — |
| 2008 | 400 | 95.9% | — |
| 2009 | 400 | 96.1% | — |
| 2010 | 393 | 94.5% | — |
| 2011 | 383 | 92.0% | — |
| 2012 | 353.8 | 84.8% | — |
| 2013 | 335.6 | 80.7% | — |
| 2014 | 324.2 | 77.9% | — |
| 2015 | 378.7 | 91.0% | — |
| 2016 | 302.3 | 72.5% | — |
| 2017 | 349.2 | 83.9% | — |
| 2018 | 332.8 | 80.0% | — |
| 2019 | 300.5 | 68.6% | — |
| 2020 | 330.1 | 75.2% | — |
| 2021 | 249.8 | 57.0% | — |
| 2022 | 304.1 | 69.4% | — |
| 2023 | 336.5 | 76.8% | — |
| 2024 | 314.9 | 71.7% | — |
| 2025 | 288.8 | 65.9% | — |
Generators
EIA-860 (annual) with EIA-860M updates through Sep 2026. EIA-923 reports generation by plant, prime mover and fuel, not by unit, so unit-level output isn't shown.
| Gen ID | Technology | Prime mover | Nameplate MW | Summer MW | Online | Status | Planned retirement | OEM / model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Geothermal | ST | 53.9 | 50 | Feb 1989 | Operating | — | coming soon |
Owner / operator
Operator: CalEnergy Operating Corporation. Ownership shares by in-service nameplate MW (EIA-860 Schedule 4; units not listed there are wholly owned by the operator).
| CE Generation | 100.0% | 54 MW |
Nearby plants
Within 80 km.
| Salton Sea Power Gen Co - Unit 4 | 48 MW | 0.1 km |
| Salton Sea Power LLC - Unit 5 | 58 MW | 0.5 km |
| Salton Sea Power Gen Co - Unit 2 | 20 MW | 0.6 km |
| Salton Sea Power Gen Co Unit 1 | 10 MW | 0.8 km |
| Vulcan-BN Geothermal Power Company | 40 MW | 2.1 km |
| Del Ranch Company | 46 MW | 2.2 km |