Ivanpah 2

☀ SolarIPP Non-CHP133 MW capacity

195th largest plant in California · 2073rd nationally

Ivanpah 2 is a solar power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 133 MW. It generates roughly 183.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 17,504 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 16% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 226 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%16%
Peaking — intermittent or backup

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 595 MWh (1% of capacity)JFeb: 156 MWh (0% of capacity)FMar: 841 MWh (1% of capacity)MApr: 1.9k MWh (2% of capacity)AMay: 2.0k MWh (2% of capacity)MJun: 195 MWh (0% of capacity)JJul: 13 MWh (0% of capacity)JAug: 1.8k MWh (2% of capacity)ASep: 1.3k MWh (1% of capacity)SOct: 1.8k MWh (2% of capacity)ONov: 1.3k MWh (1% of capacity)NDec: 290 MWh (0% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (133 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.

Capacity133 MWnameplate
Annual Generation183.8k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor16%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂20.8kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameIvanpah 2
OperatorNrg Energy Services
CityNipton
CountySan Bernardino County
StateCalifornia
ZIP92364
Coordinates35.55611, -115.46861

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolarBattery Storage

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
ST1Solar Thermal without Energy StorageSolar133 MWOperating2013

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Solar Partners I LlcOakland, CA10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂20.8k metric tons
NOₓ2 metric tons
CO₂ Rate226 lb/MWh
This plant226 lb/MWhU.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 lb/MWh

Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityCalifornia Independent System Operator

About Solar plants

Utility-scale solar farms convert sunlight directly into electricity using photovoltaic panels. They produce zero direct emissions and have no fuel cost, but generation is variable — peaking at midday and falling to zero at night. Capacity factors typically run 18–28% in good locations.

Other plants in San Bernardino County

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