$2.2B Solar Plant Turns Off: Ivanpah’s Cautionary Tale

Ivanpah was supposed to be a poster child for clean energy. Giant mirrors, solar towers, steam generation, promise. Now, just over a decade after it began operation, it’s becoming a warning.

Built in the Mojave Desert, the plant used 173,500 heliostats to reflect sunlight onto boilers atop three 459-ft towers. The idea: concentrate solar heat, boil water, spin turbines, generate electricity day and night.

But it never lived up to its promise. Performance lagged. It had to rely on natural gas to function at times. Contracts with PG&E and others began unraveling. In 2025, those agreements began being terminated, setting the stage for decommissioning.

Why did it fail?

• Technology disadvantage: As photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and battery storage became cheaper and more efficient, Ivanpah’s concentrated solar thermal approach couldn’t compete.
• Production shortfalls: It never hit its projected output. Some estimates say it produced at most ~75% of its intended generation.
• High costs & complexity: The mechanical, tracking, steam generation, and cooling systems introduced layers of complexity and upkeep.
• Environmental harm: The facility is implicated in thousands of bird deaths annually, as birds flying through concentrated sunlight get burned (“streamers”).
• Contract & market changes: PG&E, early on, agreed to terminate long-term power purchase contracts, citing cost savings by not continuing until 2039.

What’s next?

NRG, one of the co-owners, is seeking regulatory approval to begin shutting down units in 2026. The site may eventually be repurposed for photovoltaic solar deployment, which aligns with the current market trend.