What's cool in green tech: Ivanpah

Located in the California Mojave Desert about an hour outside of Las Vegas is a town called Ivanpah. In 2013, Ivanpah became home to a $2.2 billion thermal solar complex — the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. The Ivanpah plant is now the world’s largest thermal solar facility.

The massive system consists of three power plants that generate thermal heat from heliostat mirrors, which is different than other solar plants that use photovoltaic technology to generate solar electricity. More than 170,000 mirrors gather huge amounts of sunlight to create an astounding capacity of 377 megawatts (MW), more than double the output of the Andusol, Solnava, or Extresol power stations in southern Spain, previously the largest in the world (150 MW each).

According to the Ivanpah solar website, the electricity generated by all three of its plants is enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day. This means more than 13.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided over the 30-year life cycle of the plant, equivalent to taking 2.1 million cars off the road. The plant also cuts major air pollutants by 85 per cent compared to new natural gas-fired power plants.

While much has been written about the vast potential of the facility, some media reports have suggested that the facility may not be able to produce the amount of energy it has been contracted to provide, raising questions about its long term future. Despite the issues surrounding it, Ivanpah Solar is a project worth watching.

For more cool facts on the Ivanpah facility, check out this website.

And take a look inside the gigantic Ivanpah plant here.

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