Coal Creek — McLean, ND — Operational Power Plant
Total Capacity
1,215.6 MW
Summer: 1,148.2 MW | Winter: 1,148.2 MW
Technology
Coal + Oil
4 generators
First Unit Online
June 1, 1979
Coal Creek is a coal and oil power plant in McLean County, ND with 4 generating units totaling 1,215.6 MW of nameplate capacity. It is operated by Rainbow Energy Center. Its first unit came online in 1979.
About this plant
Coal Creek Station is the largest power plant in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Located near the Missouri River between Underwood, North Dakota, and Washburn, North Dakota, it burns lignite. Its two generators are each rated at 605 megawatts, with a peak total production of nearly 1.2 gigawatts. Great River Energy had announced its intention to close the plant in 2022 if a new owner could not be found. On June 30, 2021, Great River Energy announced that they had reached an agreement to sell the plant to Rainbow Energy Center, LLC, who plans to continue to operate the plant. On May 2, 2022 the sale of Coal Creek Station and the high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system was completed.
Source: Wikipedia
Capacity rank
- #2 in the U.S. by capacity
- #1 in ND by capacity
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Monthly generation history
Source: EIA Form 923
Generators (4)
4 generators
4 operational generators totaling 1,215.6 MW · online 1979–2016
Plant Information
| Plant ID | 6030 |
| Plant Name | Coal Creek |
| Operator | Rainbow Energy Center |
| Sector | Electric Utility |
| Balancing Authority | MISO |
| Power Market | |
| County | McLean |
| State | North Dakota (all interconnection requests in North Dakota) |
| Status | Operational |
| Generation Type(s) | Coal, Oil |
| Total Nameplate Capacity (MW) | 1215.6 |
| Total Summer Capacity (MW) | 1148.2 |
| Total Winter Capacity (MW) | 1148.2 |
| Generating Units | 4 |
| Operational Units | 4 |
| Planned Units | 0 |
U.S. county map showing McLean, ND
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