Ivanpah Solar Power Facility
Introduction 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). It deploys 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on three  tall solar power towers. The first unit of the system was connected to the electrical grid in September 2013 for an initial synchronisation test. The facility formally opened on February 13, 2014.In 2014, it was the world's largest solar thermal power station.The $2.2 billion facility was developed by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel. The largest investor in the project 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 public land. In 2010, the project was scaled back from its original 440 MW design to avoid disturbing the habitat of the desert tortoise.
Description Aerial photograph of Ivanpah Solar Power FacilityPower tower 2 of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System under construction. The heliostat mirrors on the truck are awaiting installation.View of Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System from Yates Well Road. The Clark Mountain Range can be seen in the distance.Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System with all three towers under load, Feb 2014.Taken from the I-15.The bright spots of Ivanpah are clearly visible from above Las Vegas and further.The Ivanpah system consists of three solar thermal power plants on  of public land near the California–Nevada border in the Southwestern United States. Initially it was planned with 440 MW gross on  of land, but then downgraded by 12%. It is near Interstate 15 and north of Ivanpah, California. The facility is visible from the adjacent Mojave National Preserve, the Mesquite Wilderness, and the Stateline Wilderness. It is also very visible from the Primm Valley resort area to the northeast.Fields of heliostat mirrors focus sunlight on receivers located on centralized solar power towers. The receivers generate steam to drive specially adapted steam turbines.For the first plant, the largest-ever fully solar-powered steam turbine generator set was ordered, with a 123 MW Siemens SST-900 single-casing reheat turbine. Siemens also supplied instrumentation and control systems. The plants use BrightSource Energy's "Luz Power Tower 550" (LPT 550) technology which heats the steam to 550 °C directly in the receivers. The plants have no storage.Final approval for the project was granted in October 2010.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 the construction.The project, which had a total cost of about $2.18 billion, received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the United States Department of Energy. The facility developed contracts to sell about two-thirds of the power it generated to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and the rest to Southern California Edison (SCE).View of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility from the Yates Well Road exit of the I-15 Freeway.The largest investor in the project was NRG Energy, a generating company based in Princeton, New Jersey. It contributed $300 million. The project also received an investment of $168 million from Google. However, in November 2011, Google announced that it would no longer invest in the facility due to the rapid decline of the price of photovoltaic systems. $90,000,000 in financing was provided through the EB-5 Investor Immigration program, managed in this case by CMB Regional Centers.
Fossil fuel consumption The plant burns natural gas each morning to commence the 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  of natural gas, as previously approved, to . In 2014, the plant burned  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 to reduce carbon emissions. If that fuel had been used in a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plant, it would have generated about 124 GWh of electrical energy. The facility used that gas plus solar energy to produce 419 GWh of electrical energy (more than three times that of the referenced CCGT plant), all the while operating at well below its expected output. In 2015, the facility showed higher production numbers, with Q1 increases of 170% over the same time period in 2014.The facility uses three Rentech Type-D water tube boilers and three night time preservation boilers. The California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission approved for each a stack " high and  in diameter" and consumption of   of fuel.
Economic impact BrightSource estimated that the Ivanpah facility would provide 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction, 86 permanent jobs, and total economic benefits of $3 billion. Elected San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents most of the California Mojave Desert, stated that the "project would create jobs for mostly Las Vegas and electricity for mostly San Francisco".The project received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the United States Department of Energy. According to Synapse Energy Economics, the estimated construction cost for the facility of $5,561.00 per kW fell between that of coal and nuclear power plants. but this does not account for the less favorable capacity factor of solar power.In November 2014, the facility's investors applied for a $539 million federal grant to finance their federal loan.
Performance Contracted power-delivery performance of 640 GWh/year from Units 1 and 3 and 336 GWh from Unit 2 was met by 2017, following sharply reduced production in the first few years of operation, particularly in the start-up year of 2014.In November 2014, the Associated Press reported that the facility was producing only "about half of its expected annual output". The California Energy Commission issued a statement blaming this on "clouds, jet contrails and weather". Performance improved in 2015 to about 650 GWh. However, NRG Energy said in its November quarterly report that Ivanpah would likely not meet its contractual obligations to provide power to PG&E during the year, raising the risk of default on its Power Purchase Agreement. PG&E had a contract to receive 640 GWh/year from Units 1 and 3, while SCE was supposed to receive 336 GWh from Unit 2, at a price of about $200/MWh (20¢/kWh). In March 2016, PG&E agreed not to declare the plant in default for at least four months in return for an undisclosed sum from the owners.In June 2015, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported, "15 months after starting up, the plant is producing just 40% of its expected more than a million megawatt-hours of electricity each year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Department." Performance improved dramatically in the second year. CleanTechnica reported with respect to units 1 and 3 that "in 2015, PG&E customers received about 97% of Ivanpah's contracted electrons, which is a massive improvement over its first year".By 2017, due to improvements, the plant was meeting the contract output requirements. The steam plant was designed for 28.72% gross efficiency. The local irradiance near the area is about 7.4 kWh/m2/day (annual average) for a total solar energy flow in the visible spectrum of 2.717 MWh/m2 yearly.One heliostat mirror is a  reflecting surface, giving a total of  per heliostat. The total plant heliostat reflecting surface results in 173,500 heliostats × 14.05 m2/heliostat = 2,437,144 m2.If the mirrors could always be perpendicular to Sun's ray, based on irradiance, the intercepted solar energy flow is 2.717 MWh/m2/year × 2,437,144 m2 = 6,621,720 MWh yearly.===May 2016 industrial accident===On May 19, 2016, a small fire was reported when misaligned mirrors reflected sunlight into a level of Unit 3 tower not designed to collect power, requiring the tower to shut down for repairs. As another of the three power-generating units was already offline for scheduled maintenance, the plant was left with only one third of its installation functional. Unit 3 resumed operation on June 8, 2016.All three units were back in operation by June 20, 2016.Solar thermal electricity production in California peaked at 703 MW on that day, up from 452 MW on June 7 when two units were offline.===Awards===In August 2014, Ivanpah was awarded the "Plant of the Year" award from ''Power'' magazine. In February 2012, Ivanpah was awarded the CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) Project of the Year by Solar Power Generation USA.
Environmental impacts The project generated controversy because of the decision to build it on ecologically intact desert habitat. The Ivanpah installation was estimated, before operations started, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually. It was designed to minimize impacts on the natural environment compared to some photovoltaic solar facilities because the use of heliostats does not require as much grading of the land. The facility was fenced off to keep out some terrestrial wildlife. However, birds faced the risk of collision with the heliostat mirrors or from burning in solar flux created by the mirror field.In 2012, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) issued a report on the project, citing water concerns, damage to visual resources, and impacts on important desert species. To conserve scarce desert water, LPT 550 uses air-cooling to convert steam back into water. Compared to conventional wet-cooling, this results in a 90 percent reduction in water usage. The water is then returned to the boiler in a closed process.Another potential issue is the effect of mirror glare on airplane pilots. Additionally, "the power towers have 'receiver units' at their top on which the mirror fields focus their reflected light. During operation, these receiver units become extremely hot, such that they glow and appear brightly lit. ... Because they are high above the ground, these glowing receiver units will be a visible distraction to persons at many of the KOPs Key Observation Points, including travelers utilizing I-15. "According to the State of California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission Opening Briefs regarding this project, "the project itself is visually imposing. It would cover roughly , most of which would be covered with mirror fields. The panoramic expanse of mirror arrays would present strong textural contrast with the intact, natural character of the desert floor and would rise to a height of roughly ; an additional  above that height would consist of lighting to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. "===Desert tortoise===The solar power facility under construction in August 2013The Ivanpah Solar power project was built on  of public land in the south central Mojave Desert. Project construction was temporarily halted in the spring of 2011 due to the suspected impacts on desert tortoises. Construction resumed when the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) found the project was not likely to jeopardize the endangered desert tortoise. BrightSource also installed fencing to keep wildlife out of the area. In 2010, the project was scaled back from the original 440 MW design, to avoid building on the habitat of the desert tortoise.Many desert tortoises found on the site were relocated to other parts of the Mojave Desert. However, environmentalists raised concerns that relocated tortoises were more likely to die due to the stresses involved.===Birds===During the trial of the plant in September 2013, thirty-four dead birds were found at the plant. Fifteen had heavily burned feathers, which staff at the plant referred to as "streamers" because they were burned in flight by the intense radiation from the heliostat mirrors. From February through June 2014, a team of biologists monitoring the number of bird deaths reported a total of 290.In April 2014, the USFWS reported that 141 dead birds, including peregrine falcon, barn owl and yellow-rumped warbler had been collected at Ivanpah in October 2013.Forty-seven of the birds' deaths were attributed to solar flux. According to a report by the Associated Press, "Ivanpah might act as a 'mega-trap' for wildlife, with the bright light of the plant attracting insects, which in turn attract insect-eating birds that fly to their death in the intensely focused light rays." Bird kill mitigation strategies were considered, including proven, environmentally safe technologies such as avian radars and LRADs to keep birds away from the site, covering ponds to discourage waterbirds from loitering, and clearing additional land around the plant to make it less attractive and more visible to birds in flight. Some of the bird deaths occurred when the plant was in standby-mode, and the mirrors were focused above the tower. This issue was resolved by spreading the focus wider, below damaging intensity.In April 2015 ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that "biologists working for the state estimated that 3,500 birds died at Ivanpah in the span of a year, many of them burned alive while flying through a part of the solar installment where air temperatures can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit 540 °C".In late 2015, Brightsource released the results of the first full year monitoring bird and bat deaths at the Ivanpah solar plant. The company reported that during a year of study supervised by the California Division of Wildlife, the number of observed bird deaths, adjusted upward to account for inefficiencies of the carcass-counting, were around 3,500 bird deaths per year caused by the Ivanpah solar plant. The Ivanpah plant took steps to further reduce bird deaths.The initial reports of high avian casualties have been disputed ever since initial reports surfaced. In September 2014, for example, Renewable Energy World suggested "With its claim of 28,000 dead birds from Ivanpah, the Associated Press syndicated a story on every front page in America, spreading alarm about concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, which was not grounded in facts, but on one opponent's speculation. "In September 2016, federal biologists said about 6,000 birds die from collisions or immolation annually while chasing flying insects around the facility's towers.Ivanpah was covered in the 2019 documentary ''Planet of the Humans''.
Production Ivanpah Solar electric production is as follows (in megawatt-hours, MWh).===Ivanpah 1 (126 MW gross)===+Net electricity production (all) MWhYear Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Sun NG Total2014  5,632    4,460    4,946    9,130    15,879    23,722    12,277    16,807    19,743    17,455    15,993    5,922 151,966 0 151,966 2015  4,448    16,471    20,010    25,281    12,380    25,126    19,575    23,404    21,333    11,813    16,230    13,904 201,075 8,902 209,975 2016   7,599    23,686    18,427   13,284  26,006  32,875  31,796    24,403   26,860  20,616  19,663  10,440 243,479 12,176 255,655 2017  11,310  11,699  12,283  11,656  28,709  34,797  21,742  23,437  24,803  28,777  14,736  15,577 228,136 11,390 239,5262018  16,881  9,714  18,825  14,019  19,704  36,206  21,400  26,060  29,267  20,173  18,055  12,172 231,142 11,334 242,4762019  13,784  2,178  13,823  20,270  20,031  32,266  32,026  32,450  24,140  27,333  16,380  8,356 234,681 8,798 243,0372020  12,350  17,961  14,547  22,355  33,691  30,616  38,060  33,299  27,324  27,041  18,176  9,713 270,941 14,192 285,133202113,1037,95819,13224,60927,89623,31916,98826,66424,90415,77722,02712,774223,35711,794235,151202215,8988,19118,71726,20720,13331,04518,18316,48817,54325,33815,1089,920217,5975,174222,771Total   2,002,374  83,760  2,085,690===Ivanpah 2 (133 MW gross)===+Net electricity production (all) MWhYear Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Sun NG Total2014  2,167    1,304    5,604    9,596    13,020    15,825    14,350    12,812    14,446    18,157    15,350    6,632 129,264 0 129,263  2015  6,909    8,915    19,585    24,364    17,243    26,206    18,953    23,900    22,628    12,477    22,222    15,642 210,515 8,529 219,044 2016  10,070  17,615  19,436  5,626  0  9,359  33,386  25,281  25,918  20,389  21,012  11,590 190,412 9,270 199,6822017  13,381  9,220  16,754  13,359  29,201  22,800  22,181  20,204  25,708  29,253  16,577  17,736 226,850 9,974 236,8242018  13,536  16,429  20,399  21,254  29,246  39,354  20,599  28,467  32,364  21,375  20,436  13,595 264,009 13,045 277,0542019  15,085  13,207  12,635  19,331  22,647  34,930  33,856  36,735  25,343  30,832  19,310  7,731 258,458 13,184 271,6422020  16,180  5,044  5,297  21,517  37,645  33,438  39,333  34,852  29,915  26,896  20,827  11,601 269,143 13,402 282,545202113,81110,76921,34130,29728,08225,52119,69129,71226,24417,02719,54810,302242,09410,251252,345202216,68310,16721,39027,17735,48733,87123,17817,42023,43228,85917,78011,903261,3336,014267,347Total   2,052,078  83,669  2,135,747===Ivanpah 3 (133 MW gross)===+Net electricity production (all) MWhYear Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Sun NG Total2014  2,686    3,866    9,409    6,107    15,885    24,728    9,340    14,451    9,562    20,401    15,834    5,587  137,856 0 137,856  2015  10,531  4,887  17,495  25,659  18,333  26,202  23,153  25,502  22,186  12,681  22,022  15,452 215,573 8,530 224,1032016  7,770  25,953  20,546  19,539  17,430  23,487  33,667  15,947  29,437  20,307  21,377  12,242 236,684 11,018 247,702 2017  13,164  12,909  21,605  15,574  29,103  40,080  22,471  24,001  24,730  19,755  9,488  10,618 231,913 11,875 243,7882018  18,456  17,820  19,957  26,787  27,488  40,177  21,198  24,047  30,075  20,848  19,380  10,093 266,338 9,988 276,3262019  6,342  11,818  21,794  19,744  22,029  34,803  31,638  32,214  23,251  26,683  17,700  9,431 246,784 10,751 257,5352020  6,818  18,825  13,534  23,023  36,486  32,562  36,500  32,983  28,786  27,625  19,685  11,796 275,733 12,890 288,62320215,59019,66121,85931,74032,64615,05719,67629,28423,15517,44522,47813,629240,24611,974252,220202211,22622,71424,67528,16235,88931,17622,99819,17324,21627,80219,03211,973273,6945,352279,046Total    2,124,821  82,378  2,207,199===Ivanpah total (392 MW gross)===+Net electricity production (all) MWhYear Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Sun NG Total2014    10,485    9,630    19,959    24,833    44,784    64,275    35,967    44,070    43,751    56,013    47,177    18,141 419,085    0 419,085   2015  21,888  30,273  57,090  75,304  47,956  77,534  61,681  72,806  66,147  36,971  60,474  44,998 627,161 25,961 653,122  2016  25,439  67,254  58,409  38,449  43,436  65,721  98,849  65,631  82,215  61,312  62,052  34,272 670,575 32,464 703,0392017  38,305  33,828  50,642  40,589  87,013  97,677  66,664  67,642  75,241  77,805  40,801  43,931  686,899 33,239 720,1382018  48,873  43,963  59,181  62,060  76,438  115,737  63,197  78,754  91,706  62,396  57,871  35,860  761,489 34,367 795,8562019  35,211  27,203  48,252  59,345  64,707  101,999  97,520  101,399  72,734  84,848  53,478  25,518 739,481 32,733 772,2142020  35,348  41,830  33,378  66,895  107,822  96,616  113,893  101,134  86,025  81,562  58,688  33,110 815,817 40,484 856,3012021  32,504  38,388  62,332  86,646  88,624  63,897  56,355  85,660  74,303  50,249  64,053  36,705 705,697 34,019 739,7162022  43,807  41,072  64,782  81,546  91,519  96,092  64,359  53,081  65,191  81,999  51,920  33,796 752,624 16,540 769,164Total  6,178,828  249,807  6,428,635Ivanpah was advertised as designed to produce 940,000 MWh of electricity per year, based on its nameplate capacity and assumed capacity factor. In its second year of operation, Ivanpah's production of 653,122 MWh of net electricity was 69.5 percent of this value, ramping up from 44.6 percent in the first year. The commissioning of a new thermal plants requires up to four years to achieve 100% operating level, from the first grid connection to full production. In its seventh year (2020), the annual production was 91.1% of its advertised value.===Ivanpah total annual production===
Fossil fuel use Ivanpah Solar's use of gas is as follows, expressed in million British thermal units (Btu) as reported. For comparison to the above charts, 1 MWh is about 3.4 million Btu.===Ivanpah 1===+Natural gas consumption (million Btu)Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total2014  31,760  18,369  9,703  22,767  27,198  59,739  37,609  24,261  24,387  14,670  NR  NR 270,4632015  8,249  28,789  29,352  43,618  32,783  49,351  50,815  45,301  38,393  20,485  30,577  33,405 411,118  2016  25,620  37,072  52,382  27,248  53,663  59,477  59,281  48,803  38,492  32,974  24,621  21,420 481,0532017  28,741  28,074  23,267  40,726  26,001  58,778  52,522  49,036  50,714  20,252  20,901  15,212 357,8592018  36,314  15,816  35,324  24,087  30,421  70,159  63,494  71,117  35,154  29,440  11,153  30,804 453,2832019  38,476  10,505  31,693  41,240  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a 121,914Total  1,942,972===Ivanpah 2===+Natural gas consumption (million Btu)Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total2014  41,657  13,645  18,319  16,234  21,420  34,324  38,984  22,105  22,100  12,976  13,663  19,446 274,8732015  14,630  19,544  32,438  29,600  42,063  49,999  39,171  43,540  39,894  24,949  33,994  37,370 407,1922016  36,861  29,874  49,996  14,780  0  21,706  52,315  38,057  34,092  34,587  29,525  23,088 364,8812017  28,550  26,091  34,818  60,626  30,140  40,428  43,744  23,295  42,716 28,157 24,562  19,038 402,1652018  32,525  24,106  36,828  23,580  42,921  56,040  52,336  82,818  74,222  28,563  11,882  22,839 497,6602019  42,768  14,567  22,498  39,362  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a 119,195Total  1,923,932===Ivanpah 3===+Natural gas consumption (million Btu)Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total2014  29,309  18,498  22,532  13,624  25,321  56,292  33,508  26,337  21,487  15,390  NR  NR 262,2982015  17,473  8,460  29,072  38,642  43,708  48,695  40,115  60,249  36,547  20,547  44,193  39,975 427,6762016  36,645  41,799  52,801  42,714  27,006  41,573  52,577  22,031  33,361  34,512  29,580  29,875 444,4742017  30,930  27,660  32,173  35,459  26,456  65,677  47,956  43,363  52,544  15,867  11,493  11,945 401,5232018  36,667  28,583  57,746  53,768  7,086  59,954  21,139  35,930  36,435  21,661  5,918  13,448 378,3352019  14,887  22,456  39,329  31,723  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a 108,395Total  1,900,858===Ivanpah total===+Natural gas consumption (million Btu)Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total2014  102,726  50,512  50,554  52,625  73,939  150,355  110,101  72,703  67,974  43,036  NR  NR 774,5252015  40,352  56,793  90,862  111,860  118,554  148,045  130,101  149,090  114,834  65,981  108,764  110,750 1,245,9862016  99,126  108,745  155,179  84,742  80,669  122,756  164,173  108,891  105,945  102,073  83,626  74,383 1,290,3082017  88,221  81,825  90,258  136,811  82,597  164,883  144,222  115,694  145,974  64,276  56,956  46,195 1,217,9122018  105,506  68,505  129,898  110,435  80,428  186,153  136,969  189,865  145,811  79,664  28,953  67,091 1,329,2782019  96,131  47,528  93,520  112,325  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a  n/a 349,504Total  5,790,918NR = Not reportedn/a = Not available
See also * List of solar thermal power stations* SEGS* Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert* Blythe Solar Power Project
References
External links * * *  Brightsource energy official website—an owner of the facility*  Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System —California government information about the project