This month the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station enters its fourth year of producing clean energy for California’s electricity grid. The sprawling site, located in California’s Mojave Desert, spans 3,500 acres and features one of the world’s most innovative and fascinating power production facilities.
For Ivanpah’s third anniversary, we are excited to share four short films that primarily capture a snapshot of the 65-person Operations team. These men and women help the facility produce up to 400 megawatts of clean energy every day for Californians. Along the way, they tackle the challenges of operating a first-of-its kind power plant in the United States. They’re proud of the work dthey do, day in and day out.
Chapter 1: An overview of Ivanpah – from idea to operation. Every day brings many opportunities to help the power plant perform safely and more efficiently. Meet some of the men and women who make Ivanpah tick: “After what we started in 2010 to where we are today it truly is amazing to see this all coming together, all of these moving parts,” says NRG employee Doug Davis.
Chapter 2 : The first three years have been part of a four-year “ramp up” for the facility as operators learn how to maximize the plant’s capacity. Take a behind-the-scenes look at how Ivanpah employees are working to increase and maximize the solar generation for California. “We’ve implemented a number of changes to improve the generation of the plant,” says NRG’s Dick Dusenbury, General Manager.
Chapter 3: Ivanpah is situated amidst a desert environment which consists of a bird population that our employees work to protect. Check out the methods we’re using to take extra protection. “Looking for new ideas is part of the process. It has to be,” says NRG biologist Bruce Weise.
Chapter 4: Before construction even began at Ivanpah in 2010, a team of biologists and other wildlife experts formulated a plan to protect a group of desert tortoise who inhabit the area. Learn how those efforts have spanned the past six years…and counting. “Only about 2% of desert tortoises in the wild survive into adulthood. Our efforts here are helping secure future generations in the wild,” says Weise.
