Solar power plant being shut down....

[DILLIGAF]

Is this the one outside of Vegas?

x.com

x.com

 

[TPC]

Yeah, expensive to run.
The similar type between the 10 and 40 in Barstow shut down some time ago if I recall right.

 

[Riverbottom]

Big one on I-10 just west of Blythe.

 

[Andy B.]

But,but Newscum and the green fairies said this is going to replace fossil fuels

 

[Dannyo]

What about Desert Center? That one is huge!

 

[Voodoo GT350]

If this is the one just south of Vegas, it's fricken wild. It's kinda of eerie and reminds of something from the future....

 

[mjc]

It will stop killing birds then. Question is will they clean up or just walk away?

 

[DRYHEAT]

Just another fine example of a government backed Folly that we will all pay for!

 

[Ol Man]

They owe the governmnt (us) 1.6 billion dollars.

 

[Nordie]

It's a middle eastern company that built it and owns it. The Obama administration gave them the land and the grants to build it. I could go on and on about what a failure that was.

They also almost didn't build the 3rd tower because they found too many desert tortoises.

 

[Joe mama]

I bet that shit sits out there till I’m 6’ under.

 

[wallnutz]

Turn the tweekers loose, it will be gone in a year.

 

[Riverbottom]

What about Desert Center? That one is huge!

Desert Center is photovoltaic, not a mirror and turbine system.

 

[zhandfull]

Is this the one outside of Vegas?

x.com

x.com

Looks like it.

11 years after a celebrated opening, massive solar plant faces a bleak future in the Mojave Desert

What was once the largest solar power plant of its type in the world appears headed for closure just 11 years after opening

abcnews.go.com

 

[El Rojo]

Good riddance !!!

 

[Meaney77]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

 

[wallnutz]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

The government subsidies ran out so now they have to run it on their own nickel.

 

[clark]

Just another fine example of a government backed Folly that we will all pay for!

I hate to disagree with you but it will be our childern and grandchildern that will be paying fot this and all the otrher f*cking buill shit that all these global warming IDIOTS have brought about

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

Our Government wasting our money

 

[DirtyWhiteDog]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

If I remember correctly, it has to use vast amounts of natural gas (more energy than the plant produces) to keep the saline slurry solution heated enough to produce steam for the generators to run efficiently.

 

[Wayn-o]

It's a middle eastern company that built it and owns it. The Obama administration gave them the land and the grants to build it. I could go on and on about what a failure that was.

They also almost didn't build the 3rd tower because they found too many desert tortoises.

There is another one North up the 95 by Tonopah that Blowbama gave to a contractor in Spain to build. Took all the water rights from the local farmers etc. It was shutdown for awhile because it never worked right execpt killing birds. Came back on in 2021 I think.

What happened with Crescent Dunes?

The trailblazing Crescent Dunes CSP project is operating again under new owners - this time just delivering solar for night

www.solarpaces.org

 

[paradise]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

When it was designed, solar panels were WAY more expensive than they are now so the cost per KWh from this plant was less than the cost for a similarly sized photovoltaic system. By the time they had it built and operational, photovoltaic costs had come down so far that they could undercut the power from this plant and sell for cheaper. I believe these guys have been running at a loss since almost day 1. Current photovoltaic systems with the same output are something like a third the cost...

This system was also supposed to be able to run overnight to provide a more consistent power output but I think they have had issues there as well.

 

[rrrr]

Looks like it.
View attachment 1474866

11 years after a celebrated opening, massive solar plant faces a bleak future in the Mojave Desert

What was once the largest solar power plant of its type in the world appears headed for closure just 11 years after opening

abcnews.go.com

Look at that ugly piece of shit desecrating the pristine desert. The motherfuckers in government that think the desert is there so solar arrays can be built need to be tied up in the concentration point of those towers and incinerated.

 

[DRYHEAT]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

My guess would be, paying people to keep all those mirrors clean.

 

[Smupser]

That thing is knarly to fly over coming into Vegas from San Diego

 

[timstoy]

I hate to disagree with you but it will be our childern and grandchildern that will be paying fot this and all the otrher f*cking buill shit that all these global warming IDIOTS have brought about

If I remember correctly, it has to use vast amounts of natural gas (more energy than the plant produces) to keep the saline slurry solution heated enough to produce steam for the generators to run efficiently.

This is correct. My son worked there when it first went on line. Only on the hottest days would the solution get hot enough to not need natural gas to be operational. The rays from the mirrors would vaporize birds and the company tried to keep that from the public. The system didn’t work in Germany either but the company received government grants and funds to build this facility in the United States.

 

[Javajoe]

I always feel like a moth when I drive by it. Hard to not stare into the light 🫣

 

[Uncle Dave]

Serious question- what is expensive about running this plant? Isn't it self-sufficient for the most part?

Good question - there a number of things at play.

It was horrifically expensive.
it never did hit its performance target
It takes an unbelievable amount of natural gas every day to keep the molten salt hot enough to continue producing power - way more than a standard gas turbine so when the sun isnt shining its going backwards.
Its fragile, the mirror motors go down a lot reducing efficiency.
It takes a ton pf people to keep running and fixing it.

Troughs are way simpler and work better.
A panel farm has zero moving parts and requires only cleaning.

 

[Dettom]

If they were subsidized by the government, than they're planned failures anyway. Probably, a bunch of greenies walked away with a shit load of tax payer money..

 

[zhandfull]

Sounds like they were considering changing over to traditional solar panels for two of the fields.

Plans might have change with the new administration.

 

[rrrr]

If they were subsidized by the government, than they're planned failures anyway. Probably, a bunch of greenies walked away with a shit load of tax payer money..

If Trump hadn't been elected, the next government run taxpayer theft was going to be hydrogen power for transportation.

It has to be stored at around 5,000 PSI to produce useful tankage quantities for transportation, or in cryogenic facilities, which have to be kept below -423° F. The cost of constructing distribution and dispensing would be unbelievably huge.

Imagine the average American dipshit connecting a hose pressurized to 5,000 PSI to a vehicle. Nothing bad could happen with that, right? It takes more energy to isolate and gasify hydrogen than the product contains, making no economic sense whatsoever.

Think about hydrogen powered Class 8 trucks in a crash. They would be a rolling bomb. Want a fuel cell powered Chevrolet? It's going to cost a minimum of $100K.

The subsidies for all of this nonsense would make the current EV tax giveaways and the Biden multibillion dollar charger network cost look like the day's receipts from a kid's lemonade stand.

 

[LazyLavey]

Damn.. This means no more Popeyes Chicken Strips?

 

[timstoy]

Damn.. This means no more Popeyes Chicken Strips?

All you can eat till they close!

 

[Gramps]

I thought calif was going to use the power from this system to run their train to nowhere

 

[MPHSystems]

@DaveH

 

[Justfishing]

Yeah, expensive to run.
The similar type between the 10 and 40 in Barstow shut down some time ago if I recall right.

 

[coolchange]

Yeah, expensive to run.
The similar type between the 10 and 40 in Barstow shut down some time ago if I recall right.

My wife used to work for the Israeli company that built some of those off the 40. Bush rescinded the solar tax credit. I saw it on the news one night and I told the wife “ shit were screwed”.
She went to work next day and they told everyone they were fired.

 

[CLdrinker]

So how did this pencil out? LMAO.

Just wait until there is a better solution and all of these people have idle solar panels in their roofs.

 

[Racey]

Big one on I-10 just west of Blythe.

No this is the one outside Vegas. It's called Ivanpah. The ones with the big towers.

It's been a fucking joke from the start.

When they had their first energy audit where it showed they were way off their energy targets they blamed the con-trails from air planes for blocking the sun.

 

[Racey]

Good question - there a number of things at play.

It was horrifically expensive.
it never did hit its performance target
It takes an unbelievable amount of natural gas every day to keep the molten salt hot enough to continue producing power - way more than a standard gas turbine so when the sun isnt shining its going backwards.
Its fragile, the mirror motors go down a lot reducing efficiency.
It takes a ton pf people to keep running and fixing it.

Troughs are way simpler and work better.
A panel farm has zero moving parts and requires only cleaning.

Panel farms have lots of moving parts, every panel is on a tilting mechanism to track the sun.

They also require a fuckload of cleaning to keep efficiency up.

 

[Nordie]

Panel farms have lots of moving parts, every panel is on a tilting mechanism to track the sun.

They also require a fuckload of cleaning to keep efficiency up.

You're smart enough, you should invent a panel cleaner for the solar fields in BC.

 

[DirtyWhiteDog]

I drive by the fields outside Boulder NV. 5 or 6 different big plants off l-11 and hwy 95 , usually 2x's a week and never seen anyone cleaning panels. You would think that they would have water trucks driving and spraying them down. They are all gray from the dust.