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re: California to shutdown $2.2 billion solar plant that never lived up to its promises
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:48 pm to Zappas Stache
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:48 pm to Zappas Stache
It's the mirrors reflecting on boiler towers style not the photovoltaic panel style.
0
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:48 pm to Chucktown_Badger
quote:
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!”
But to go back to the other poster, I imagine their position was "birds die all the time, in massive numbers; what's a few thousand more?"
Then the general public got a hold of it, and it became a huge PR issue.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:48 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
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.
You’re good with our governments spending $2B+ for something that lasts less time than a FDR presidency?
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:51 pm to cubsfan5150
quote:
You’re good with our governments spending $2B+ for something that lasts less time than a FDR presidency?
Did we really spend 2B?
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:53 pm to cubsfan5150
quote:
You’re good with our governments spending $2B+ for something that lasts less time than a FDR presidency?
There are countless examples of how bad of an idea it is when the govt picks winners, but yet it keeps happening. They shut this thing down 15 years early. fricking insanity and a lot of people saw this coming, Yet they still blew $2 billion of our money.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:54 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
I imagine their position was "birds die all the time, in massive numbers; what's a few thousand more?"
I did a poor job of making my point. If I had to rank the problems with these facilities, the number of birds they kill would be like 8th on my list of reasons why they are a bad idea. I was trying to say that I don't understand why that became one of the first arguments people use against them when so many other arguments are better.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:56 pm to billjamin
quote:
Did we really spend 2B?
No, US government guaranteed a 1.6 bill loan to NRG which is not in danger of being defaulted on.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:56 pm to csorre1
The company that owns it decided it to shut it down because it doesn’t work and is still a terrible idea despite the massive taxpayer money thrown at it. I don’t think the birds influenced the decision.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:57 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
No, US government guaranteed a 1.6 bill loan to NRG which is not in danger of being defaulted on.
I’m glad someone else know what that means
Posted on 9/24/25 at 7:58 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
is believed to be responsible for at least 6,000 bird deaths each year
So the same as a couple of baws dove hunting in Argentina.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:00 pm to csorre1
quote:
I did a poor job of making my point. If I had to rank the problems with these facilities, the number of birds they kill would be like 8th on my list of reasons why they are a bad idea. I was trying to say that I don't understand why that became one of the first arguments people use against them when so many other arguments are better.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:00 pm to Darth_Vader
FYI. Most people don’t know this.
But California subsidizes almost 1 MM homes power from APP. Arizona Public Power.
They are hypocrites.
Wind power. Solar power. It’s all a front to look like they give a shite about this earth.
Even though nuclear power is way cleaner than oil and coal.
But California subsidizes almost 1 MM homes power from APP. Arizona Public Power.
They are hypocrites.
Wind power. Solar power. It’s all a front to look like they give a shite about this earth.
Even though nuclear power is way cleaner than oil and coal.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:01 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
No, US government guaranteed a 1.6 bill loan to NRG which is not in danger of being defaulted on.
This is from 2024. Curious how this changes now that they’re shutting it down completely but to say it’s not in danger seems a stretch. Source?
quote:
The contracts are confidential, but in its Nov. 4 filing NRG said it “expects that the units will not meet their guaranteed energy production amount for the initial performance measurement period,” which ends in January, two years after commercial operations began. NRG said that if that happens “PG&E may, at its option, declare an event of default,” and that it was “exploring options to mitigate this risk or its consequences.” Neither PG&E nor NRG would answer questions about what a default might mean. A PG&E spokesman said its agreements to buy Ivanpah power “remain active.” An NRG representative said, “We have worked hard to help PG&E meet their renewable energy needs and look forward to continuing to support them.”
LINK
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 8:02 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:02 pm to Darth_Vader
At least they still have Solyndra.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:03 pm to Darth_Vader
In other words, all the political insiders have sucked all the money they could out of this boondoggle so it was time to shut it down.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:05 pm to csorre1
quote:It's the hypocrisy. We can't build desalination plants because some fish will die. We can't reclaim freshwater for human consumption or agricultural needs because a certain species of fish might have their habitat disturbed. We can't do controlled burns on forest land because wildlife might have their natural habitat disturbed. I don't understand why the sanctity of precious wildlife is suddenly ignored when you build solar panels or windmills.
There are plenty of negatives to solar and wind farms that have more merit than the bird thing.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:06 pm to Chucktown_Badger
quote:
company that owns it decided it to shut it down because it doesn’t work
False. It was providing power and could have continued to do so. But technology has become so much better since 2014 newer plants produce power for much cheaper. It uses mirrors to reflect sunlight to boilers that produce steam which is very antiquated now. It doesn't even use PV panels .
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 8:07 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:08 pm to Darth_Vader
Capacity factor will always doom large-scale solar/PV power generation.
This post was edited on 9/24/25 at 8:09 pm
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:11 pm to Mouth
quote:
Even though nuclear power is way cleaner than oil and coal.
It's also far more reliable. Nuclear offers the best performance in terms of installed capacity vs what it actually delivers to the grid annually. Solar is always at the bottom.
Posted on 9/24/25 at 8:13 pm to Clames
quote:
It's also far more reliable. Nuclear offers the best performance in terms of installed capacity vs what it actually delivers to the grid annually. Solar is always at the bottom.
And far more $/Wh.
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