Canal Generating Plant

The Canal Generating Plant is a petroleum and natural gas electrical power station in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Opened in 1968, and first operating with coal, the plant was bought by Mirant in 1999 (now GenOn Energy Holdings, part of NRG Energy). It is located on and named after the Cape Cod Canal. Though today functioning only as a peaking plant, the Canal plant formerly generated the vast majority of the cape's power in its heyday.

Canal Generating Plant
Country	United States
Location	Sandwich, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°46′14.02″N 70°30′33.81″W
Status	Operational
Commission date	1968
Owner(s)	Ironclad Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Oil
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	1,226 MW

The plant's owner has proposed a project to modernize the plant and keep it relevant by constructing a 330 megawatt combined cycle natural gas plant on the site which would be a combined-cycle natural gas unit capable of starting up within 10 minutes as well as a 1.5 MW solar array on the property. The third unit would have the ability to run on liquid fuel during cold periods in the winter when the natural gas pipelines are constrained. This project was reportedly chosen over repowering one of the oil units with natural gas.

In 2018 it was sold to private equity firm Ironclad Energy, subsidiary of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.[1]