The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System had a good November, and by the end of the month the controversial “power tower” plant in the Mojave Desert had topped 400,000 megawatt-hours of electricity generation since beginning operation in January 2014.
New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the three ISEGS units pumped out 47,176 megawatt-hours in November, the plant’s third best month in 11 months of operation, trailing just June (64,335 MWh) and October (56,013 MWh). For the year, the plant was at 401,203 MWh of generation.
Ivanpah Electrical Power Generation (MWh)
Source: EIA
Back in October, we reported on Ivanpah’s early struggles, giving the public a rare look at the actual performance of one of the many big renewable energy plants — and one of the most expensive — backed through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program. Of course the story quickly became politicized and bastardized.
One of the memes that took hold in the conservative press was that Ivanpah was producing at one-quarter its expected level. That was never correct, and the gap between actual performance and that claim continues to grow.
The DOE on its Loan Program website puts average expected annual generation at Ivanpah at 1,065,000 MWh, but the utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison) buying the energy from the plant’s owners have actually been promised a net total of 975,000 MWh/year on average.
So in fact Ivanpah is on course to produce not a quarter of its expected generation, but much closer to half.
One thing that might have helped boost Ivanpah’s fall performance: increased use of natural gas.
Ivanpah produces energy by bouncing sunlight at the top of 450-foot-tall towers, where water is heated to create steam that drives turbines. In August, the plant’s operators received permission to use 60 percent more natural gas in auxiliary boilers than was allowed under their original certification, helping the plant start faster in the morning and continue operating through brief periods when the sunshine wanes.
In discussing Ivanpah early performance, the plant’s technology developer (BrightSource Energy) and operator (NRG Energy) have cited poorer-than-average spring and summer sunshine, as well as typical early-operation problems to iron out. They say the plant should be at full stride after four years.
