Ballyhooed California Solar Plant Bankrupt After Just 11 Years

The Ivanpah Solar Plant. Credit: GreenCityTimes

A massive solar plant observed by hundreds of thousands of tourists as they flew in and out of Las Vegas and Los Angeles is going out of business just 11 years after it began operations in the Mojave Desert.

The Ivanpah concentrated solar plant was heralded as a huge technological breakthrough when it opened in 2014, and the glare from its central tower served as a beacon to airline passengers on jets more than 100 miles distant. My wife and I happened to be flying into Vegas on its opening day and were among the first to witness the sight. The facility has been twice expanded to now include 3 of the collection towers.

Although advertised initially to have a 25-year lifetime, AP reports that Ivanpah’s “power has been struggling to compete with cheaper solar technologies.”

Oh, you don’t say. You mean that both technology and the market have evolved since 2014? Who could have possibly seen that one coming?