Solar Energy Plants are a complete scam and total financial disasters

This Solar plant in California cost over $2.79 billion to build. Lets look at the numbers….

Ivanpah Solar Power Facility Financials:

• Annual Net Output: The facility has an annual net output of 856 GW·h.
• Power Purchase Agreement: The power purchase agreement is estimated to be over $0.135 per kWh.
• Estimated Annual Revenue: Based on the annual net output and the power purchase agreement, the estimated annual revenue of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility is over $115 million.
• Comparison with Expenses: It is reported that the facility’s annual expenses, including salaries and benefits for about 1000 employees and natural gas costs, are roughly $100 million, leaving about $6 million for other expenses after selling the annual output at the projected price. Total expenses being $106,000,000 per year.
  
• The plant profits only $9 million a year and cost $2,790,000,000 to build.
• Solar plants have a lifespan of only 25 years.
• The plant will only make $225 million over its entire lifespan – losing $2.6 billion dollars.

Green Solar energy is a complete scam. Prove me wrong.

The plant burns natural gas each morning to commence operation. The Wall Street Journal reported, “Instead of ramping up the plant each day before sunrise by burning one hour’s worth of natural gas to generate steam, Ivanpah needs more than four times that much.” On August 27, 2014, the State of California approved Ivanpah to increase its annual natural gas consumption from 328,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, to 525,000,000 cubic feet. In 2014, the plant burned 868×10⁹ British thermal units (254 GWh) of natural gas emitting 46,084 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is nearly twice the pollution threshold at which power plants and factories in California are required to participate in the state’s cap and trade program to reduce carbon emissions.

One particularly grim side effect of the plant’s construction is that birds, attracted to the insects gathering at the top of the towers, are incinerated as they pass through the beams of concentrated sunlight. According to estimates, this results in 6,000 deaths every year.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility

https://www.energy.ca.gov/powerplant/solar-thermal/ivanpah-solar-energy-generating

There are many more plants that have had the same result.

Crescent Dunes Nevada

The Solana Generating Station Arizona

The Solana Generating Station, built by Abengoa Solar, became operational in late 2013, cost over $2,000,000,000 and was projected to produce about 900,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. It is currently producing only 650 megawatt hours, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

• The plant produces $90,000,000 – minus operating expenses of about $75,000,000 a year and cost over $2,000,000,000 to build.
• Solar plants have a lifespan of only 25 years.
• The plant will only make $375 million over its entire lifespan – losing $1.8 billion dollars.

Medicine Hat solar facility

Earlier this year, the Canadian city of Medicine Hat announced that it would cease operations at a concentrated solar plant after five years due to low production and spiralling expenses. The plant was expected to cost $9m upon completion in 2014, but the city has had to pay an additional $3m to cover overrunning expenses. With the facility producing less than one megawatt of power, Medicine Hat leadership decided to abandon the ineffective facility.