Covanta Essex Company
Other power plant · Essex County, New Jersey
Nameplate capacity
70 MW
Rank in New Jersey
#27
of 425 plants
In service since
1990
November 1990
Details
- Primary fuel
- Other
- Technology
- Municipal Solid Waste
- Operator
- Covanta Essex Company
- County
- Essex County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.38%
- Rank among other plants in New Jersey
- #1 of 14
- EIA plant code
- 10643
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Municipal Solid Waste | 35 MW | 30 MW | 1990 | Operating |
| GEN2 | Municipal Solid Waste | 35 MW | 30 MW | 1990 | 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 New Jersey
| Forked River | Natural gas | 77 MW |
| Clayville | Natural gas | 73 MW |
| Howard Down | Natural gas | 68 MW |
| Union County Resource Recovery | Other | 45 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 70 MW solar plant and a 70 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 New Jersey power plants · What New Jersey actually generates