Despite the noise around large-scale solar, Ivanpah is one of a scant few projects to successfully navigate permitting and financing, and actually begin full-scale construction.
Each day before dawn, nearly 700 workers begin arriving at the 14.5sq km site in California’s Mojave Desert, just across the border from Nevada. Construction employment will peak at about 1,400 jobs.
Crews can drive about 500 pylons a day into the unlevelled scrubland, where the creosote bushes have been mowed to 46cm.
