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List of power stations in New Jersey facts for kids

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New Jersey is a state in the United States that needs a lot of electricity to power homes, schools, and businesses. This article tells you about the different types of power plants in New Jersey that make this electricity.

In 2023, New Jersey's power plants could make a total of 16,838 megawatts (MW) of electricity. They actually produced 64,228 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity that year. A gigawatt-hour is a huge amount of energy, enough to power many homes!

In 2024, New Jersey got its electricity from several sources:

New Jersey wants to use more clean energy. In 2018, the state decided that 21% of its electricity should come from renewable energy sources by 2021. This goal increased to 35% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. In February 2023, the governor, Phil Murphy, set an even bigger goal: 100% clean electricity by 2035! This includes energy sources that don't produce pollution, even if they are not renewable.

Most of New Jersey's renewable energy comes from solar panels. About 75% of the state's renewable electricity in 2023 was from solar. Many people have solar panels on their homes (small-scale solar). These small solar setups added an extra 3,403 GWh of energy to the state's power grid in 2024. This was almost twice as much as the large solar farms produced!

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Sources of New Jersey utility-scale electricity generation in gigawatt-hours, full-year 2024:      Natural gas: (30514%)     Nuclear: (27677%)     Solar: (1787%)     Biomass: (654%)     Other gases: (164%)     Petroleum: (33%)     Wind: (19%)     Other: (613%)


Types of Power Stations

New Jersey uses different kinds of power plants to make electricity. Let's look at them!

Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power stations use the energy released from splitting atoms to create heat, which then makes steam to spin turbines and generate electricity. New Jersey has two main nuclear power plants, both run by PSEG Nuclear. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station stopped working on September 17, 2018.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station Lower Alloways Creek 1173 1986
Salem Nuclear Power Plant Lower Alloways Creek 2285 1977 (Unit I)
1981 (Unit II)

Fossil Fuel Power Plants

Fossil fuels like natural gas and petroleum are burned to create heat, which makes steam to generate electricity.

Natural Gas Plants

Many power plants in New Jersey use natural gas. This is a common way to make electricity.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Bayonne Energy Center Bayonne 644 2012
Bergen Generating Station Ridgefield 1229 1957/1995 (part)
2002 (part)
Burlington Generating Station Burlington 168 2000
Eagle Point Power Generation Gloucester County 244 1991/2016
Kearny Generating Station South Kearny 456 Originally 1925
Linden Cogen Plant Linden 974 1989
Linden Generating Station Linden 1566 1995/2000 (part)
2006 (part)
Newark Energy Center Newark 705 2015
Red Oak Middlesex County 823 2002
Sewaren Generating Station Sewaren 538 2018
Woodbridge Energy Center Woodbridge 725 2015

Petroleum Plants

Some plants use petroleum (oil) to make electricity, often for backup or smaller needs.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Bayville Central Facility Bayville 6.9 1988/2000
Gilbert Hunterdon County 150 1996
Salem Generating Station Salem County 38.4 1971

Renewable Power Plants

Renewable energy comes from natural sources that can be replaced, like sunlight or wind.

Biomass and Waste-to-Energy Plants

These plants use biomass (like plant material) or municipal solid waste (trash) to create energy. Burning waste can produce heat to make electricity.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Fuel Type Started Working
Atlantic County Landfill Atlantic County 3.3 Landfill gas 2005
Camden County Resource Recovery Facility Camden 33.0 Municipal solid waste 1991
Essex County Resource Recovery Facility Newark 60.0 Municipal solid waste 1990
Ocean County Landfill Ocean County 13.8 Landfill gas 1997/2006
Union County Resource Recovery Facility Rahway 37.5 Municipal solid waste 1994

Hydroelectric Plants

Hydroelectric power uses the force of moving water, usually from a dam, to spin turbines and make electricity.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Great Falls (Passaic River) Paterson 10.95 1986
Passaic Valley Water Commission Passaic County 2.4 1935

Wind Farms

Wind farms use large wind turbines to capture the energy from wind and turn it into electricity.

Name Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Bayonne MUA Bayonne 1.5 2012
Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm Atlantic City 7.5 2005

Solar Power Plants

Solar power plants use solar panels (photovoltaic cells) to convert sunlight directly into electricity. New Jersey has many solar installations, both large and small. As of September 2024, there are over 90 large solar farms (over 5 MW) and many smaller ones.

Name Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Ben Moreell Solar Farm, Naval Weapons Station Earle Tinton Falls 28.5 2015
Berry Plastics Phillipsburg 13.1 2013
Fort Dix Landfill Lakehurst 16.5 2017
Holt Logistics Gloucester Terminal Gloucester City 10.1 2012
McGraw-Hill Companies East Windsor 14.1 2012
Mount Olive – Combe Fill North Landfill Mount Olive Township 25.6 2023
Pilesgrove Solar Farm Pilesgrove Township 19.9 2011
Six Flags Solar Jackson Township 23.5 2019
Tinton Falls Solar Farm Tinton Falls 19.9 2012
Toms River Merchant Solar Toms River 27.3 2021

Energy Storage Plants

Energy storage plants don't make electricity, but they store it so it can be used later when needed.

Battery Storage

Battery storage systems use large batteries to store electricity. This is useful for storing energy from renewable sources like solar, which only produce power when the sun is shining.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
ACUA Storage Atlantic County 1.0 2018
Plumsted 537 BESS Ocean County 19.8 2019
Stryker 22 BESS Warren County 19.8 2018

Pumped Storage

Pumped storage plants use water to store energy. They pump water uphill to a reservoir when electricity is cheap (like at night), and then let it flow downhill through turbines to make electricity when it's needed most.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Started Working
Yards Creek Generating Station Blairstown & Hardwick 420 1965

Plants That Have Stopped Working

Some power plants in New Jersey have been closed down over the years. This often happens as older plants are replaced by newer, more efficient, or cleaner energy sources.

Plant Location Capacity (MW) Energy Source Stopped Working
B.L. England Generating Station Upper Township 450 Coal May 1, 2019
Hudson Generating Station Jersey City 660 Coal May 31, 2017
Mercer Generating Station Hamilton Township 360 Coal May 31, 2017
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Lacey Township 652 Nuclear September 17, 2018

See also

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List of power stations in New Jersey Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.