The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal power project in California's Mojave Desert. It's 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas. The site deploys 173,500 heliostats, each with two mirrors, focusing solar energy on boilers located on centralized solar power towers. The facility opened on Feb 13, 2014 and it should be fully operation by the end of the year.
The project cost about 2.2 billion. The site is visible from Mojave National Preserve, Mesquite Wilderness and Stateline Wilderness. The project however has generated controversy because of the decision to build it on a ecologically intact desert habitat. The project disturbed 5.5 square miles of public land. On the bright side, the project will reduce carbon dioxide emission by more than 400,000 tons annually.
In 2012 the project was postponed to do desert tortoises found on the site. Since then, a fence as been constructed around the property to potentially keep all wildlife off of the property.
Sadly the fence can't keep out wild birds who have entered the plant and have been burned. They feathers were burned and charred during flight by intense radiation from the heliostat mirrors. Currently, regulators are attempting to determine how many bird deaths are considered excessive enough to shut down the plant, at least temporarily.
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