Big Bend
Natural gas power plant · Hillsborough County, Florida
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Steam Turbine
- Operator
- Tampa Electric Co
- County
- Hillsborough County
- Generating units
- 5
- Share of state capacity
- 2.22%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Florida
- #9 of 65
- EIA plant code
- 645
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 486 MW | 380 MW | 1985 | Operating |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 446 MW | 335 MW | 1970 | Operating |
| GT5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 398 MW | 360 MW | 2021 | Operating |
| GT6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 398 MW | 360 MW | 2021 | Operating |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 70 MW | 56 MW | 2009 | 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 Florida
| Gulf Clean Energy Center | Natural gas | 2,108 MW |
| Seminole (FL) | Coal | 1,898 MW |
| Okeechobee Clean Energy Center | Natural gas | 1,723 MW |
| P L Bartow | Natural gas | 1,476 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 1,797 MW solar plant and a 1,797 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 Florida power plants · What Florida actually generates