Ivanpah solar plant is estimated to kill at least 6,000 birds a year
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
The 2.2-billion-dollar Ivanpah solar plant in California is estimated to kill at least 6,000 birds a year in mid-air, KNPR reported in January 2025. The sources reviewed give conflicting accounts of the plant's partial closure, and the bird toll is an estimate, not a measured count.
- Birds flying through the concentrated sunlight — estimated at least 6,000 a year burned in mid-air KNPR
What happened
KNPR reported in January 2025 that the 2.2-billion-dollar Ivanpah plant uses mirrors to focus sunlight on a tower, and that an estimated at least 6,000 birds a year are burned in mid-air.
The plant is heated each morning with natural gas, according to the same report.
The sources reviewed describe the bird toll as an estimate, and give conflicting accounts of when part of the plant will close.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient The timeline for the partial closure in 2026 conflicts across sources and is not verified.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not give a measured bird count, only an estimate.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the plant's owner.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Ivanpah solar plant along I-15 to partially shut downKNPR · 2025-01-23