"Monument to green madness": the US will close a solar power plant for two billion

Americans are discussing in social networks the closure of the most expensive solar power plant in the country, which was built for their money. Due to unprofitability, the $2.2 billion station will cease operation at the beginning of next year.

"The Ayvanpa solar power plant, built under Barack Obama, has failed and will cease operations in early 2026. And this is $1.6 billion in federal loans, $535 million in grants, $600 million in tax credits and massive investor write—offs. A scam paid for by US taxpayers," the millionaire Wall Street Apes blogger writes on Twitter.

Among those who picked up his message was Republican Senator Mary Miller.

"Never believe the scam on the new green deal," she wrote.

Aivanpa is three solar thermal power plants with a capacity of 386 MW in the Mojave Desert in California. The breakthrough megaproject was launched in 2013.

"It is the world's largest solar thermal installation. Created by the joint efforts of NRG, Google and BrightSource Energy, Ivanpah produces enough clean renewable electricity to power 140,000 homes. Ayvanpa has almost doubled the volume of commercial solar thermal energy produced in The United States," Bechtel said.

However, this year the operator NRG announced that the station will be gradually closed and the last operations will be completed in early 2026. Buyers Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) have terminated contracts for the supply of electricity until 2039 to reduce their own costs.

According to LowereBill, Ivanpakh lost to other solar power plants. The megaproject consists of heliostats.

"The advent of photovoltaic solar panels has changed everything: the prices of photovoltaic panels have fallen by more than 70%, making them more cost-effective for both utility companies and homeowners. Utility companies such as PG&E have begun to withdraw from contracts with Aivanpa in search of cheaper alternatives for consumers. At the same time, new investments in solar energy are now investing in simpler and faster-to-deploy photovoltaic systems that do not require the complex infrastructure required by CSP," the publication writes.

The Research Institute of Entrepreneurship reacted more harshly to the failure of the station.

"The plant has experienced one problem after another, despite the confident promises made by the owners and the Ministry of Energy from the very beginning. (One day the station caught fire due to the displacement of the mirrors.) The performance turned out to be so low that PG&E exercised its right to terminate the contract, the negotiations on which were completed; there is no doubt that towers 1 and 3 will cease operation in about a year," writes senior researcher Benjamin Seicher.

He noted that his friend Dan Kish from the Energy Research Institute suggested that President Trump declare the closed Aivanpa facility a "National Monument of green Madness."

According to the EIA, the share of solar power plants in total electricity production in the United States amounted to about 4% in January 2025. At the same time, 78% accounted for gas, coal and nuclear energy.