Breaking! Ivanpah Generation Is On Track

In a successful launch of the world’s largest, and the first utility-scale CSP power tower technology in the US, the 377 MW Ivanpah tower project is gradually ramping up year on year, as predicted by its developer, BrightSource.

According to generation numbers from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), Ivanpah has almost doubled its output in the first 6 months of 2015, to 309,288 MWh, compared to the same 6-month period in its first year, when it generated 173,966 MWh.

Ivanpah Follows Predicted Ramp-Up

Back in 2010 — as you can see below — BrightSource had already noted, in an official filing with the US Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Program Office (LPO), that the firm predicted that it would hit its target after a gradual ramp-up over the first four years of operation.

“As with any plant representing new and innovative technology, there will be an initial shake-out and ramp-up period when the plant is placed into operation. As such, initial performance will be less than full design; however, over time, plant performance will increase towards designed full-rated annual performance (referred to as mature-year performance). This increase is caused by the realization of the operator’s learning curve, procedural optimization, and fine-tuning of equipment and systems for increased plant performance. For the Ivanpah project, BrightSource Energy, Inc. (BSE) has proposed that this ramp-up process may last up to four years.” 

Once the four-year ramp-up is complete, Ivanpah is expected to be generating 940,000 MWh annually.

In its first full year, 2014, Ivanpah generated 424,000 MWh, 45% of its 2018 goal of 940,000 MWh. ith the new figures for the first half of 2015 from EIA, it appears that generation will be around 600,000 MWh in 2015, in other words — about 60% of the year-four target in year two.

This might be pretty ho hum energy industry news if it weren’t for the fact that these facts have not been reported. On the contrary. These facts have been misreported:

AP: “The largest solar power plant of its type in the world — once promoted as a turning point in green energy — isn’t producing as much energy as planned.”

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