Original article (in Croatian) was published on 04/28/2025; Author: Matea Grgurinović
Disinformers on Facebook are using the news about the shutdown of the solar thermal power plant in the Mojave Desert to portray the green energy transition as a scam. However, renewable energy sources remain not only cleaner but also cheaper than fossil fuels.
Once again, Facebook is spreading information about green technologies without context.
This time, solar power plants and solar panels are in the spotlight. The downfall of one of the largest solar power plants in the American Mojave Desert, now nearing its end due to the decreasing cost of green energy, has become “proof” of the impracticality of environmental protection policies.
This is claimed in a post (archived here) shared on Facebook by the profile “Zivcana Zirafa”, a frequent spreader of disinformation.
“Green fraud. One of the largest solar farms in the U.S. Ivanpah, is shutting down due to unprofitability. Originally built in 2014 during the Obama administration, it was considered a symbol of pride and a step toward climate neutrality. The project received $2.2 billion in federal funding and was regarded as a beacon of green energy innovation.
However, the technology is now considered inefficient and its operation unprofitable. Now, the eight-square-kilometre power plant is nearing shutdown. What remains is technological waste polluting the Mojave Desert, an irresistible reminder of ambitious but ultimately impractical environmental protection policies”.
Below is a screenshot of the post, which at the time of writing had received 107 likes, three comments, and had been shared 31 times.
It is true that, after 11 years of operation, the Ivanpah solar power plant located in California’s Mojave Desert will shut down in 2026. This has been reported by numerous American media outlets (AP, CNN). However, the reason is that for the buyer, the company Pacific Gas & Electric, which always seeks ways to save money for its customers, the plant has become too expensive because the technology used to build this solar power plant is now outdated.
Started operating in 2010
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a project certified by the California Energy Commission on September 22, 2010.
The 386-megawatt project began operations on December 30, 2013.
According to the project description, it is a concentrated solar thermal plant consisting of three power stations in which mirrors focus and concentrate solar energy. In Ivanpah’s case, heliostats (flat mirrors) focus sunlight onto receiver towers located near the center of each array of mirrors.
Each of the three solar plants that make up Ivanpah contains a steam turbine that receives steam from the solar collector. So, this is a type of plant where solar energy is first converted into thermal energy, and then into electrical energy.
Evaluation of operations
So, it is true that the Ivanpah solar power plant will close, i.e. cease operations next year.
However, the reason lies in the dramatic decrease in the cost of green technology, not in the claim that environmental protection policies are “impractical”, as stated by the Facebook profile “Zivcana Zirafa”.
In fact, Ivanpah lost the battle to cheaper solar technologies, as reported by the AP. A statement issued by Pacific Gas & Electric, the company that supplies electricity to customers in central and northern California, claims that they would stop purchasing electricity from Ivanpah to save money for their customers.
PG&E and its partners decided to end the collaboration rather than extend it until 2039, as was originally planned. “As part of our continuous effort to save money for our customers, PG&E evaluates every aspect of its operations. This effort includes reviewing electricity purchase agreements across our energy portfolio. Ivanpah Solar is one such example”, the statement claims.
Cheaper technology
PG&E also noted that Ivanpah Solar was built at a time when investors were putting money into many different types of clean energy. The goal was to find efficient and affordable technologies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases.
PG&E was one of the largest electricity buyers in the state. The company had already invested in various forms of renewable energy such as wind, biomass, and geothermal, and had added concentrated solar thermal power to its portfolio.
During the 2000s and 2010s, various companies invested in this type of solar power plant. However, “over time, photovoltaic solar technology won out in terms of affordability”, the company said in its decision.
As CNN wrote, when Ivanpah was built, no one could have imagined that photovoltaic technology would become so cheap. According to the International Energy Agency, photovoltaic solar cells became the most cost-effective form of electricity generation as early as five years ago, and their cost-effectiveness compared to other electricity generation methods has continued to increase.
Environmental activists were against construction
It’s also worth noting that critics argued Ivanpah should never have been built. Environmental activists opposed the construction of the power plant in the Mojave Desert due to the significant harm to the environment. They claimed it was responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds and tortoises.
The Mojave Desert, which some considered ideal for such a project due to its desert environment and other factors, is home to cultural sites and sacred grounds for Indigenous peoples, as well as many animals like desert tortoises. These tortoises have a low reproduction rate, which affects the survival of the species.
Bird deaths were also frequent, as birds would be burned mid-flight by the hot rays emitted by the mirrors or would crash into the mirrors, mistaking them for bodies of water. Local residents also protested the project, claiming it affected their health and the environment.
In parts of this desert, there are forested areas with the well-known Joshua trees, which are also sensitive to climate change. Scientists argue that deserts are not just barren wastelands, but should be viewed “upside down”. While most desert vegetation is shrubs and trees like Joshua trees, beneath the surface lies a “hidden universe of roots”, as botanist Robin Kobaly told the Guardian. She described it as an “underground forest” that is “just as magnificent and important” as any other.
Renewable energy sources
Even though the Ivanpah solar project was not successful and was harmful to the environment and the people living there, renewable energy sources are a necessary alternative to fossil fuels. Ivanpah was shut down because there is always a push for cheaper sources of energy, rather than, for example, supporting existing infrastructure projects through subsidies or similar methods.
As previously reported, a recent study published in the journal Renewable Energy showed that in 2024, from late winter to early summer, renewable energy sources met 100% of California’s energy needs for up to ten hours a day. Not only was this a record for the state, but there were no power outages during this period. In fact, during peak production times, renewables generated 162% of the required energy, allowing California to export electricity or use it to charge batteries.
To conclude, the Facebook post by “Zivcana Zirafa” lacks context. The Ivanpah project in the Mojave Desert was launched when solar technology was not as advanced, and it was not known how much it would decrease in cost. The fact that an energy company decided to stop purchasing electricity from Ivanpah illustrates the unprofitability of this specific concentrated solar thermal technology, but says nothing about other ways of utilizing renewable energy sources. In fact, some other renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, are significantly more cost-effective than fossil fuel-based infrastructure.
