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1495 MW Residual Oil operating in Barnstable, MA
1,495 MW
Nameplate Capacity
3
Generators
units
Petroleum Liquids
Technology
1968
Operating Since
Coordinates
41.7694, -70.5097
County
Barnstable, MA
Nearby Plants
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| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Canal Generating LLC | — | — |
| Owner(s) | Canal 3 Generating LLC, Canal Generating LLC | — | — |
| Status | Operating | — | — |
The Canal Generating Plant is a petroleum and natural gas electrical power station in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Canal 1, a baseload unit, began operation in 1968 and was for many years the most efficient oil burning plant in the US. Canal 2, a cycling unit, began operation in the mid-1970s. The plant was bought by Mirant in 1999, now GenOn Energy Holdings division of NRG Energy. It is located on Cape Cod Canal. In its heyday, the Canal plant generated the vast majority of the Cape's power, but today functions only as a peaking plant.
Read more on WikipediaThe Canal plant, located in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, has a total capacity of 1495 MW across three generators. It is the largest power plant in Massachusetts and ranks second nationally among plants using residual fuel oil (RFO). The plant began operating in 1968 and is owned and operated by Canal Generating LLC. Its primary fuel source is petroleum liquids.
In the latest year of reported generation, the Canal plant produced 374,356 MWh of electricity, operating at a capacity factor of 2.8%. The plant is located within the ISO New England Inc. balancing authority and the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) NERC region. Its operations and market participation have been the subject of news coverage, with ten articles available, spanning industry trends, deals, regulatory matters, and grid-related topics.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
ISO/RTO
ISO-NE
Market
ISO/RTO Member
NERC Region
NPCC — Northeast Power Coordinating Council
Balancing Authority
ISO New England Inc. (ISNE)
Grid Voltage
345.0 kV
Regulatory Status
NR — Non-Regulated
Entity Type
Independent Power Producer
Sector
IPP Non-CHP
Monthly net generation as reported to EIA-923 — useful for historical context. Confidence varies sharply by fuel type; the band above and the “About this data” button explain the caveats specific to this plant and how InfraSure’s in-house model handles them.
78.1K MWh
Latest Month
374.4K MWh
Annual Generation
2.8%
Capacity Factor
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CO₂ Intensity
2114 lb/MWh
Low-utilization plant — per-MWh rate is dominated by startup/standby emissions; not directly comparable to baseload averages.
NOx
2 lb/MWh
SO₂
3 lb/MWh
CH₄
0.073 lb/MWh
N₂O
0.013 lb/MWh
Capacity Factor
0.5%
Annual Net Gen
60 GWh
CO₂eq
2120 lb/MWh
Subregion
NPCC New England
2013
$765/kW
Est. Construction Cost
Total estimated cost: $1.1B
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Point of Interconnection
Nearest Substation
Canal Substation · 345 kV
Substation Distance
< 10 km
Operator
Eversource
Coord Source
OSM spatial
Market Position
ISO/RTO Market
ISO-NE
LMP Node
365
Pricing Hub
.H.INTERNAL_HUB
Node Source
EIA-860 direct report
No wholesale contracts disclosed in FERC EQR for this plant.
FERC EQR captures bilateral wholesale energy + capacity contracts ≥$1M/yr filed quarterly by jurisdictional sellers — covers renewable PPAs, thermal energy sales agreements, capacity contracts, and tolling agreements alike. Many plants don't appear: regulated-utility output flows to ratepayers via cost-of-service rather than bilateral contracts; small projects fall below the filing threshold; tax-equity-financed renewables route offtake to investors not utilities; merchant plants sell into ISO clearing markets without bilateral contracts. News-extracted buyer facts (below) may surface contracts disclosed only through announcements.
Last updated 2026-03-26
View all 7 articlesForward forecasts, scenario decomposition, and risk-decision tooling for this asset.