Taxpayer-backed Ivanpah photo voltaic plant kills birds and burns fossil fuels

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That is half 2 of a sequence on California's troubled Ivanpah Photo voltaic Energy Plant within the Mojave Desert.

Greater than a decade after it opened, an Obama-era taxpayer-backed "clear power" photo voltaic plant in California nonetheless burns fossil fuels and kills hundreds of birds every year.

The Ivanpah Photo voltaic Energy Plant, a large facility within the Mojave Desert close to the California-Nevada border, makes use of tons of of hundreds of mirrors to replicate daylight into three towering constructions, producing intense warmth to provide electrical energy.

However those self same beams have confirmed lethal.

A composite picture reveals a tower on the Ivanpah Photo voltaic Energy Plant alongside a hen discovered with burn accidents linked to concentrated photo voltaic warmth publicity, in response to federal wildlife analysis. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register through Getty Pictures; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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Federal researchers and monitoring stories have documented hundreds of birds being killed after flying by way of the plant’s concentrated photo voltaic rays — a phenomenon often called "photo voltaic flux."

The plant additionally depends on pure fuel to start out up every day – producing tens of hundreds of metric tons of carbon dioxide yearly – an quantity corresponding to the power use of hundreds of houses, elevating questions on how "clear" the power actually is.

Standing close to the positioning, its footprint is unmistakable. The towers glow intensely as beams of mirrored daylight converge at their tops, creating an virtually surreal scene in opposition to the desert panorama.

As soon as promoted as a logo of the way forward for renewable energy , Ivanpah is now drawing scrutiny over whether or not its environmental prices outweigh its advantages, with critics saying the mission raises broader considerations about how "clear power" is evaluated.

"If oil and fuel spills a drop, actually a drop, your entire operation is shut down. And to an extent that’s a superb factor," Daniel Turner, founding father of the power advocacy group Energy The Future, informed Fox Information Digital.

"However you label one thing ‘inexperienced’ or ‘clear’ and all rules are waived."

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An aerial view reveals the Ivanpah Photo voltaic Energy Plant close to the California-Nevada border, the place mirrors replicate daylight onto towers to generate electrical energy. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Common Pictures Group)

Regardless of the documented wildlife impacts, the plant continues to function — with California regulators declining efforts to shut it down and as an alternative arguing it's nonetheless wanted to assist the facility grid. Officers below each the Trump and Biden administrations have supported shutting the power down, citing the excessive value of its electrical energy in comparison with newer alternate options.

The mission was constructed with greater than $1.6 billion in federally backed loans and extra taxpayer-funded incentives, leaving tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} nonetheless excellent — whilst environmental considerations proceed to mount. As well as, the U.S. Division of the Treasury supplied a $539 million grant to assist construct the power, masking about 30% of development prices.

Fowl deaths and wildlife impacts

The power spans greater than 4,000 acres of the Mojave Desert and makes use of roughly 350,000 mirrors — mounted on greater than 170,000 heliostats — to replicate daylight towards three central towers.

That very same concentrated mild has had unintended penalties.

Researchers say bugs are drawn to the brilliant towers, which in flip entice birds. Some then fly by way of the plant’s concentrated photo voltaic beams — often called photo voltaic flux — the place they are often injured or killed.

Researchers dubbed the phenomenon "streamers," with video launched by the U.S. Geological Survey displaying birds trailing smoke as their feathers burn.

A peregrine falcon wing reveals extreme feather injury in step with publicity to concentrated photo voltaic warmth, in response to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service research of the Ivanpah photo voltaic plant. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/05/672/378/ivanpah-solar-flux-damaged-feathers-peregrine-falcon.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/05/1344/756/ivanpah-solar-flux-damaged-feathers-peregrine-falcon.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/05/931/523/ivanpah-solar-flux-damaged-feathers-peregrine-falcon.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/05/1862/1046/ivanpah-solar-flux-damaged-feathers-peregrine-falcon.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Burned feathers from a peregrine falcon present injury patterns linked to concentrated photo voltaic beams on the Ivanpah photo voltaic plant, in response to federal analysis. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

A 2016 federal research by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered proof of birds struggling feather injury and trauma in step with publicity to intense warmth close to the towers.

Monitoring stories filed with California regulators and reviewed by Fox Information Digital proceed to doc hen and bat deaths on the web site, with tons of of birds discovered useless every year.

Environmental opinions performed earlier than development anticipated some degree of wildlife influence, together with hen deaths linked to reflect collisions and concentrated photo voltaic beams, in response to California Power Fee paperwork.

"Fowl mortality continues to be a major concern at concentrated photo voltaic crops like Ivanpah," Lewis Grove, director of wind and energy policy on the American Fowl Conservancy, informed Fox Information Digital.

"Public estimates are that hundreds of birds are killed yearly by this single facility," he stated, including that the trade-off is "usually not value it for birds."

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He famous that newer photovoltaic photo voltaic methods have considerably decrease impacts on wildlife, underscoring how the business has shifted away from the know-how used at Ivanpah.

"The Ivanpah plant was a financial boondoggle and environmental catastrophe," Julia Dowell of the Sierra Membership stated in a earlier Fox Information Digital report. She added the mission "killed hundreds of birds and tortoises" and confirmed that "not all renewable applied sciences are created equal."

Habitat influence

Past hen deaths, the mission has reshaped the encompassing desert.

The location was as soon as thought of a high-quality habitat, in response to federal environmental opinions performed earlier than development. Improvement cleared massive areas of land, displacing tortoises and different wildlife and raised considerations about long-term survival.

Early monitoring stories confirmed dozens of protected desert tortoises went unaccounted for throughout preliminary operations — together with animals held in managed enclosures — in response to California Power Fee paperwork reviewed by Fox Information Digital.

Critics have additionally questioned whether or not efforts to relocate tortoises away from the positioning have been efficient.

Burning fossil fuels

The plant’s environmental footprint extends past wildlife.

Ivanpah depends on pure fuel to start out up operations every day — a requirement that has raised questions on how "clear" the power actually is.

Whereas the unique design assumed restricted fuel use, precise operations usually require a number of hours of gas-burning to carry the system on-line. The plant additionally lacks large-scale power storage, that means it can not generate electrical energy at evening — a limitation newer photo voltaic initiatives more and more tackle.

A hen feather reveals curling and charring linked to concentrated photo voltaic warmth publicity on the Ivanpah facility, in response to a federal wildlife research. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Mission paperwork present the power was initially accepted to make use of considerably much less pure fuel than it finally required, with operators later searching for approval to extend utilization by roughly 60% to keep up dependable operations, in response to California Power Fee filings reviewed by Fox Information Digital.

The plant has burned pure fuel to assist each day startup and operations, producing roughly 25,000 to 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide yearly — roughly equal to the emissions from a number of thousand U.S. houses.

That degree of emissions is sufficient to place the plant below California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires main polluters to pay for his or her emissions — successfully inserting the "photo voltaic" facility alongside conventional fossil gasoline crops relating to emissions.

Whereas Ivanpah produces fewer emissions than a standard pure fuel plant, its carbon footprint stays considerably larger than that of contemporary photo voltaic farms, which generate electrical energy with out burning fossil fuels.

NRG Power, which operates the power, stated in a earlier assertion that it stays dedicated to offering renewable electrical energy however declined to offer extra remark relating to environmental points.

The California Power Fee informed Fox Information Digital the mission stays in compliance with its environmental necessities, with wildlife impacts addressed by way of ongoing monitoring and coordination with federal and state companies.

The Ivanpah Photo voltaic Energy Plant in California’s Mojave Desert makes use of mirrors to focus daylight onto three towers to generate electrical energy. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Pictures)

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Greater than a decade after it opened, Ivanpah now stands as a logo of the trade-offs within the push for clear power — the place efforts to scale back emissions can even carry real-world environmental prices.

For now, the plant continues to function as a result of regulators say the facility it offers continues to be wanted — whilst questions stay about its value, environmental impact and whether or not it nonetheless is smart to maintain it working.

These questions prolong past the plant itself, elevating broader considerations about how initiatives like Ivanpah have been accepted — a difficulty Fox Information Digital will look at within the subsequent a part of this sequence.

Michael Dorgan is a author for Fox Information Digital and Fox Enterprise.

You may ship tricks to michael.dorgan@fox.com and comply with him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

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