The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System broke ground in 2010 and began operating in 2014 near the California-Nevada border. It made headlines because of the Obama-Biden administration's push for so-called renewable energy as well as a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
"It's going to put about 1,000 people to work, building a state-of-the-art facility," said President Obama in 2014.
The contracts were expected to run through 2039, but Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has agreed with owners – including NRG Energy Inc. – to terminate its contracts with the Ivanpah plant. If approved by regulators, the deal would lead to closing two of the plant's three units starting in 2026.
Southern California Edison, which buys the rest of the power from the three-unit plant, is in discussions with owners and the U.S. Energy Department regarding a buyout of its Ivanpah contract.
"The plant appears likely to become a high-profile loser in the race to develop new types of clean energy in the era of climate change," said the Associated Press.
Larry Behrens of Power the Future is not surprised by this news and tells AFN it will just be another "solar boondoggle" in the future.
"These things do not work without massive taxpayer subsidization," he notes. "If they were in the free market, they would have gone out of business a long time ago. Since they were propped up by taxpayers, well, they were on life support a little bit longer. Now that they've failed, it's the taxpayers who are going to be holding the bag."
If the PG&E agreement is approved, NRG said the units will be decommissioned, "providing an opportunity for the site to potentially be repurposed for renewable (photovoltaic) energy production." The company has not provided details about the projected cost or what will become of the equipment at the site.
