Solar Power Plant

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Ivanpah system consists of three solar thermal power plants on 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of public land near the California–Nevada border. Initially planned with 440 MW gross on 4,000 acres, it was scaled back about 10% from its original design to avoid disturbing the habitat of the desert tortoise. The $2.2 billion facility was developed by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel. The largest investor was NRG Energy, which contributed $300 million. Google contributed $168 million. The United States government provided a $1.6 billion loan guarantee and the plant is built on federal land. Final approval was granted in October 2010, and on October 27, 2010, Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and other dignitaries gathered in the Mojave Desert to break the ground for construction. The first unit was connected to the electrical grid in September 2013 for a synchronization test.

In Their Own Story

In January 2025, the plant's co-owner NRG Energy announced it was unwinding power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Edison and, subject to regulatory approval, would begin closing the plant in early 2026. The facility, though cost effective when it was planned in 2009, became twice as expensive to run as solar photovoltaic technology. The power companies purchasing electricity from Ivanpah said that they expect the closure will save their ratepayers money. NRG declined to say how much of the $1.6 billion loans guaranteed by the government remained unpaid as of 2025. In December 2025, the closure agreement was unanimously rejected by the California Public Utilities Commission, citing concerns about grid reliability and wasting sunk costs. The decision requires two of the three units to remain running.

Reader's Guide

The plant burns natural gas each morning to commence operation. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Instead of ramping up the plant each day before sunrise by burning one hour's worth of natural gas to generate steam, Ivanpah needs more than four times that much." On August 27, 2014, the State of California approved Ivanpah to increase its annual natural gas consumption from 328,000,000 cubic feet to 525,000,000 cubic feet. In 2014, the plant burned 868×10^9 British thermal units (254 GWh) of natural gas emitting 46,084 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is nearly twice the pollution threshold at which power plants and factories in California are required to participate in the state's cap and trade program. The facility used that gas plus solar energy to produce 419 GWh of electrical energy. In 2015, the facility showed higher production numbers, with Q1 increases of 170% over the same time period in 2014. By 2017, due to improvements, the plant was meeting the contract output requirements.

Did You Know?

• The plant's name comes from the Chemehuevi word for 'clean water'.
• It was the world's largest solar thermal power station when it opened on February 13, 2014.
• The project was scaled back about 10% from its original 440 MW design to avoid disturbing the habitat of the desert tortoise.
• In December 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously rejected the closure agreement, requiring two of the three units to remain running.
• The plant burns natural gas each morning to commence operation, using more than four times the amount originally expected.