| Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Looking north towards Ivanpah Facility's eastern boiler tower from Interstate 15 | |
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | near Ivanpah, San Bernardino County, California |
| Coordinates | 35°34′N 115°28′W / 35.57°N 115.47°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 27 October 2010[1] |
| Commission date | 13 February 2014[2][3][1] |
| Construction cost | $2.2 billion ($2.79 billion in 2023 dollars[4]) |
| Owners | NRG Energy BrightSource Energy |
| Employees | 60[5] |
| Solar farm | |
| Type | CSP |
| CSP technology | Solar power tower |
| Collectors | 173,500 |
| Site resource | 2,717 kWh/m2/yr |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Solar energy and natural gas |
| Site area | 3,500 acres (1,420 ha)[6] |
| Cooling source | Air cooling |
| Power purchase agreement | >$0.135 / kWh (estimated)[7] |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 3 |
| Make and model | Siemens SST-900 |
| Nameplate capacity | Unit 1: 126 MW Units 2 and 3: 133 MW each. Planned: 440 MW gross, Build: 392 MW gross, 377 MW net[6] |
| Capacity factor | 24.1% (2018 actual) / 28.5% (Planned) |
| Annual net output | 856 GW·h |
| External links | |
| Website | ivanpahsolar |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a concentrated solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert. It is located at the base of Clark Mountain in California, across the state line from Primm, Nevada. The plant has a gross capacity of 392 megawatts (MW).[8] It uses 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on three 459 feet (140 m) tall[9] solar power towers.[8] The first unit of the system was connected to the electrical grid in September 2013 for an initial synchronisation test.[10] The facility formally opened on February 13, 2014.[2] In 2014, it was the world's largest solar thermal power station.[11][12]
The $2.2 billion facility was developed by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel.[13] The largest investor in the project was NRG Energy which contributed $300 million. Google contributed $168 million.[14] The United States government provided a $1.6 billion loan guarantee and the plant is built on public land.[15] In 2010, the project was scaled back from its original 440 MW design to avoid disturbing the habitat of the desert tortoise.[16]
- ^ a b Overton, Thomas W. (August 2014). "Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Earns POWER's Highest Honor". Power. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ a b Michael R. Blood and Brian Skolof, "Huge thermal plant opens as solar industry grows" Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, February 13, 2014.
- ^ "Update from Ivanpah – May 2013". May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
Ivanpah Project Is More Than 92 Percent Complete
- ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ "Loan Programs Office: IVANPAH". US Department of Energy. 2017-06-01.
ECONOMIC IMPACT: Ivanpah created 1,000 construction jobs and is expected to support 61 permanent jobs.
- ^ a b "Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System". National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Archived from the original on 2015-10-12. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Trabish, Herman (2014-02-13). "Ivanpah: World's Biggest Solar Power Tower Project Goes On-Line - But will more concentrated solar power follow?". Greentech Media.
Though Ivanpah's PPA prices are undisclosed, they are thought to be no less than the $0.135 per kilowatt-hour PPA price for SolarReserve's 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes project in Nevada, far from DOE's CSP target price of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour.
- ^ a b "Brightsource Ivanpah". Ivanpahsolar.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
- ^ "Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Tower 2 - the Skyscraper Center".
- ^ "Business Wire: Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Reaches 'First Sync' Milestone". Businesswire.com. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ "World largest solar thermal plant syncs to the grid". IEEE. 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ "World's Largest Solar Thermal Power Project at Ivanpah Achieves Commercial Operation" Archived 2016-01-29 at the Wayback Machine, NRG press release, February 13, 2014.
- ^ "Solar energy plant in California gets new partner in NRG". Power Engineering International. PennWell Corporation. 2010-10-28. Archived from the original on 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
- ^ Wald, Matthew (November 28, 2011). "Google Pulls the Plug on a Renewable Energy Effort". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
foxnewswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Woody, Todd (February 11, 2010). "BrightSource Alters Solar Plant Plan to Address Concerns Over Desert Tortoise". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-25.