Frontera Energy Center
Natural gas power plant · Hidalgo County, Texas
Nameplate capacity
529 MW
Rank in Texas
#88
of 1,071 plants
In service since
1999
June 1999
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Operator
- Frontera Generation Limited Partnership
- County
- Hidalgo County
- Generating units
- 3
- Share of state capacity
- 0.26%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Texas
- #67 of 310
- EIA plant code
- 55098
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 185 MW | 181 MW | 2000 | Operating |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 172 MW | 177 MW | 1999 | Operating |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 172 MW | 177 MW | 1999 | 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 Texas
| Morgan Creek | Other | 536 MW |
| Cedar Bayou 4 | Natural gas | 536 MW |
| Montana Power Station | Natural gas | 527 MW |
| Aviator Wind | Wind | 525 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 529 MW solar plant and a 529 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 Texas power plants · What Texas actually generates