Ivanpah Solar Power Complex – Ivanpah, California

BrightSource is currently developing its first solar power complex in California’s Mojave Desert. The Ivanpah Solar Power Complex will be located in Ivanpah, approximately 50 miles northwest of Needles, California, and about five miles from the California-Nevada border. The complex will be a 6-square mile facility (4065 acres) within the 25,000-square mile Mojave Desert and will generate enough electricity to power 140,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 450,000 tons per year.

Project Details

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The 440 megawatt Ivanpah Solar Power Complex will be built in three phases – two 110 megawatt facilities and one 220 megawatt facility. The first phase (110 megawatts) is scheduled to begin construction in early 2010 and completed by 2012. The second phase will begin construction roughly six months after the start of the first phase in early 2010.

A 100 megawatt solar thermal plant utilizes approximately 50,000 heliostats.

Project Overview
  • A 440-megawatt solar complex using mirrors to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers atop power towers.
  • The complex is comprised of three separate plants to be built in phases between 2010 and 2014, and will use BrightSource Energy’s Luz Power Tower (LPT) technology.
  • The electricity generated by all three plants is enough to serve more than 150,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.
  • Located approximately 4.5 miles southwest of Primm, Nevada, in the desert on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
  • When constructed, Ivanpah will be the first large-scale solar thermal project built in California in nearly two decades.
  • The Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.
Economic Benefits
Construction Jobs: 1,000 at peak of construction
Permanent Jobs: 86
State and Local Tax Benefits: $400 million*
Total Construction Wages: $250 million
Total Employee Earnings: $650 million*
*Based on 30 year plant life cycle
Environmental Benefits
  • Avoids 450,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year; the equivalent of removing 75,000 cars off the road annually.
  • Employs a closed-loop dry-cooling technology, which reduces water use by 90 percent. Will use 100 acre feet per year, the equivalent of 300 homes’ annual water usage; and nearly 30 times less water than competing technologies.
  • Cuts major air pollutants by 85% compared to new natural gas-fired power plants.
  • Technology places individual mirrors onto metal poles that are driven into the ground, reducing the need for extensive land grading and using far fewer concrete pads than other technologies.
Labor-friendly Project

In December 2009, BrightSource Energy’s engineering partner, Bechtel, signed a project labor agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC), and the Building & Construction Trades Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to provide qualified, skilled craft workers for the Ivanpah project.

World Class Partners
The Ivanpah project will provide power under a 1,300 megawatt contract for Southern California Edison and a 1,310 megawatt contract with Pacific Gas and Electric company. When completed, the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.
BrightSource has partnered with Bechtel, the world’s premier engineering, construction and project management firm, as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System. In addition, Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of the Bechtel organization, will become an equity investor in all of the Ivanpah solar power plants.
In December 2008, BrightSource signed an agreement with Siemens for the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator for the Ivanpah project.