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California to shutdown $2.2 billion solar plant that never lived up to its promises
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:03 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:03 pm
quote:
Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream.
Viewed from the bottom line, however, Ivanpah is anything but.
The solar power plant, which features three 459-foot towers and thousands of computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats, cost some $2.2 billion to build.
Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2014. Now it’s set to close in 2026 after failing to efficiently generate solar energy.
In 2011, the US Department of Energy under President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in three federal loan guarantees for the project and the secretary of energy, Ernest Moniz, hailed it as “an example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.”
quote:
When Ivanpah began operating in 2014, it ranked as the world’s largest solar plant. It seemed like a viable solution to California’s renewable energy goals of employing affordable and efficient technology to reduce the need for fossil fuels.
NY Post
Who could have ever predicted this?
19
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:16 pm to Darth_Vader
According to the Association of Avian Veterinarians, the power plant “is believed to be responsible for at least 6,000 bird deaths each year.”
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:17 pm to Darth_Vader
I wonder if this one’s shorter or longer than the poliboard one. Place your bets.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:18 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
According to the Association of Avian Veterinarians, the power plant “is believed to be responsible for at least 6,000 bird deaths each year.”
Yeah, if they flew too close, they’d get fried. Windmills kill a lot of birds yearly as well.
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 7:19 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:21 pm to Darth_Vader
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:21 pm to Darth_Vader
I was actually one of the lead engineers on this project. Seems like so long ago.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:25 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
Who could have ever predicted this?
:raiseshand:
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:26 pm to Darth_Vader
If only we had something from the earth that provided exponentially more clean power generation
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:31 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
“is believed to be responsible for at least 6,000 bird deaths each year.”
I never understood this argument. Cats kill 1-4 billion birds per year. Glass windows kill another 500 million birds per year.
There are plenty of negatives to solar and wind farms that have more merit than the bird thing.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:32 pm to cadillac7563
quote:
If only we had something from the earth that provided exponentially more clean power generation
Kind of hard to beat the 44 quadrillion watts the earth gets blasted with every day from the sun.
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 7:44 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:33 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
t “never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected, while relying on natural gas to stay operational.”
A solar plant that was powered by LNG.
They used green diesel to run the generator to get the LNG.
The green diesel plant was powered by coal generated electricity.
Very logical.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:33 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
Who could have ever predicted this?
There's always risk involved with spending a shite ton of money on a project that's at the cutting edge of a particular tech. This project, while an interesting idea, ended up getting quickly passed up by other forms of solar energy tech, so it foundered.
It also cooked birds mid air, which made it rather unpopular
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:34 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
Who could have ever predicted this?
Benjamin Zycher with the American Enterprise Institute back in 2014:
California’s New Solar Plant: Burning Up Taxpayer Money, Land, and Wildlife
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 8:12 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:35 pm to csorre1
quote:
Cats kill 1-4 billion birds per year. Glass windows kill another 500 million birds per year.
Cats and glass windows are kind of part of our lives. It’s suggesting that aside from being a boondoggle these things also destroy nature and wildlife unnecessarily.
I’m also curious of the source of that 500,000,000 per year number. That seems exorbitantly high.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:36 pm to csorre1
quote:
I never understood this argument. Cats kill 1-4 billion birds per year. Glass windows kill another 500 million birds per year.
There are plenty of negatives to solar and wind farms that have more merit than the bird thing.
It's that it did it really violently and it caught people's attention.
For those who aren't aware, this tech wasn't even kind of related to current solar panels. Honestly, it has more in common with how a nuclear power plant works than anything else. Basically, a shite ton of mirrors reflected sunlight at a giant reservoir that boiled water, turning turbines with the steam. When you reflect a shite ton of concentrated solar energy towards a single point, you will cause anything that moves into that path to burst into flames, rather spectacularly.
People didn't like that
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:37 pm to Crow Pie
quote:
A solar plant that was powered by LNG.
525 million cubic feet per year and 50,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year. They had to get approval to burn that much natural gas because the plant was producing so little energy.
This is about the most California thing ever. Thanks Obama!
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:40 pm to Chucktown_Badger
quote:
I’m also curious of the source of that 500,000,000 per year number. That seems exorbitantly high.
The two most credible are the Audubon Institute and the American Bird Conservancy.
I agree with your point about them wrecking nature. I just think the footprint of these sites, the duck curve, putting them on what would otherwise be farm land, the difficulty of recycling the PV panels and turbine blades, etc are all better arguments.
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 7:42 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:43 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
People didn't like that
But that phenomenon was not a surprise.
I feel like so many liberal ideas are like the McBain quote from the Simpsons:
“I’m going to save you if I have to kill every last one of you!”
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:44 pm to Darth_Vader
It's an older solar farm that can't compete with newer solar panels being used by newer solar farms which are more efficient. It's likely the property will eventually be a solar farm again with new technology being used. Meanwhile PG&E will buy more power from the newer solar farms resulting in cheaper prices for users.
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