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 By Associated Press | Jan.

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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

By Associated Press

|

Jan. 30, 2025, at 7:07 p.m.

11 Years After a Celebrated Opening, Massive Solar Plant Faces a Bleak Future in the Mojave Desert

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John Locher

FILE - An array of mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating site is shown near Primm, Nev., Aug. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — What was once the world's largest solar power plant of its type appears headed for closure just 11 years after opening, under pressure from cheaper green energy sources. Meanwhile, environmentalists continue to blame the Mojave Desert plant for killing thousands of birds and tortoises.

The Ivanpah solar power plant formally opened in 2014 on roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border. Though it was hailed at the time as a breakthrough moment for clean energy, its power has been struggling to compete with cheaper solar technologies.