Desert Basin
Natural gas power plant · Pinal County, Arizona
Nameplate capacity
745 MW
Rank in Arizona
#13
of 200 plants
In service since
2001
October 2001
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Operator
- Salt River Project
- County
- Pinal County
- Generating units
- 5
- Share of state capacity
- 1.74%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Arizona
- #7 of 33
- EIA plant code
- 55129
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 272 MW | 253 MW | 2001 | Operating |
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 187 MW | 182 MW | 2001 | Operating |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 187 MW | 182 MW | 2001 | Operating |
| CTG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 50 MW | 43 MW | 2022 | Operating |
| CTG5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 50 MW | 43 MW | 2022 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Arizona
| Apache Station | Natural gas | 782 MW |
| Sonoran Solar Energy | Solar | 750 MW |
| Agua Fria | Natural gas | 738 MW |
| Coolidge Generation Station | Natural gas | 726 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 745 MW solar plant and a 745 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Arizona power plants · What Arizona actually generates