{"id":405325,"date":"2025-09-27T16:18:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T14:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=405325"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:18:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T14:18:18","slug":"2-2-billion-solar-plant-in-california-scheduled-to-be-turned-off-after-years-of-wasted-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=405325","title":{"rendered":"$2.2 billion solar plant in California scheduled to be turned off after years of wasted money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Aerial<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California\u2019s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Michael Kaplan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewed from the bottom line, however, Ivanpah is anything but. The<\/em><\/strong> New York Post<\/a> has the story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2014. Now it\u2019s set to close in 2026 after failing to efficiently generate solar energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201can example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But ultimately, it\u2019s been more emblematic of profligate government spending and unwise bets on poorly conceived, quickly outdated technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIvanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government subsidized energy schemes,\u201dJason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, an American energy advocacy group, told Fox News via statement this past February. It \u201cnever lived up to its promises<\/a>, producing less electricity than expected, while relying on natural gas to stay operational.\u201d<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ivanpah began operating in 2014, it ranked as the world\u2019s largest solar plant. It seemed like a viable solution to California\u2019s renewable energy goals of employing affordable and efficient technology to reduce the need for fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located near the California-Nevada border, 65 miles southwest of Las Vegas, the plant\u2019s glowing towers are as striking as some casinos on the Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility\u2019s 5 square miles of desert were covered with some 173,500 heliostats, adjusted via computer to catch maximum rays. The computer-controlled mirrors can reflect light from the sun at temperatures that can reach 1,000 degrees in part of the installment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California\u2019s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":405335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore the rise and fall of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, a $2.2 billion project now shutting down after failing to generate expected energy.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Ivanpah Solar Facility: A $2.2 Billion Energy Failure","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818068,691838355,691838354,691829473,691838356,691830924],"class_list":{"0":"post-405325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-computer-controlled-mirrors","10":"tag-ivanpah-solar-power-facility","11":"tag-mojave-desert","12":"tag-president-barack-obama","13":"tag-solar-power-plant","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQMD-R8kUo_6X9sdcOINhp3G65eKFsnhgG2avYdk5ouvQtSfe2EEcRkw89chLKDlVxsIwjSuKPFw596bCF2YnMIMC40w3BHqqOJBjKjENfJqUFnNAS4mXf2Pal93Iv0-1.png?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Hrv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":364265,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=364265","url_meta":{"origin":405325,"position":0},"title":"Ivanpah Solar Plant: The Flaming Failure That\u2019s Finally Being Put Out of Our Misery","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s finally happening. The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, the behemoth of bureaucratic blundering and incinerated wildlife, is circling the drain. Once celebrated as a game-changer for renewable energy, it\u2019s now being quietly escorted off the stage with a \u201cnothing to see here, folks\u201d attitude. After just 11 years of struggling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"dead birds\"","block_context":{"text":"dead birds","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dead-birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0tpg_99bfb440-3de4-4e63-9bd0-a86e0df2cc8a.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0tpg_99bfb440-3de4-4e63-9bd0-a86e0df2cc8a.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0tpg_99bfb440-3de4-4e63-9bd0-a86e0df2cc8a.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0tpg_99bfb440-3de4-4e63-9bd0-a86e0df2cc8a.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0tpg_99bfb440-3de4-4e63-9bd0-a86e0df2cc8a.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":364180,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=364180","url_meta":{"origin":405325,"position":1},"title":"World’s largest concentrated solar boondoggle is going out of business after just 11 years","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The PR writers want us to believe the legendary Ivanpah has been beaten out by better cheap solar, and that this is somehow a \u201csuccess\u201d. But the truth is, it\u2019s been killed by the same subsidies and crooked market that birthed it.","rel":"","context":"In \"Mojave Desert\"","block_context":{"text":"Mojave Desert","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=mojave-desert"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0f6q6bkqkcfw21.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0f6q6bkqkcfw21.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0f6q6bkqkcfw21.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0f6q6bkqkcfw21.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0f6q6bkqkcfw21.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":407945,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=407945","url_meta":{"origin":405325,"position":2},"title":"Bird-torching Mojave solar facility shutting down","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun will soon be setting on the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California\u2019s Mojave Desert. Boosted by $1.6 billion in taxpayer-backed loans in 2011, the gargantuan project was\u00a0hailed\u00a0by President Obama\u2019s first energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, as \u201can example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"Artificial Intelligence (AI)\"","block_context":{"text":"Artificial Intelligence (AI)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=artificial-intelligence-ai"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQOroLORR_w7s18_MFSPNojeHxVHnZVupiTZ1mzNj3KofPP1tdY-0YIRtGic09J44GAr25JW4I9H78ZzOQdDTA1nADKLbf_THBF1J-A4coFTUTZ8jOaIXIGtEVKPfkWL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQOroLORR_w7s18_MFSPNojeHxVHnZVupiTZ1mzNj3KofPP1tdY-0YIRtGic09J44GAr25JW4I9H78ZzOQdDTA1nADKLbf_THBF1J-A4coFTUTZ8jOaIXIGtEVKPfkWL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C904&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 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