Largest Solar Plant Causes 6,000 Bird Deaths a Year and Is Taking Measures to Prevent Further Ones

Ivanpah Solar Plant located in Mojave desert in California burns about 6,000 birds a year, when they fly along the Pacific short during migration and get too close to the plant. The officials at Ivanpah are taking measures to prevent the mass death of birds, but acknowledge them to be insufficient. The Los Angeles Times reports how the most environmental way of producing energy causes irreparable harm to the environment.

Ivanpah spokesperson David Knox says that the birds fly closer to the station when chasing the insects, attracted by the light of thousands of mirroring surfaces of the solar batteries and flood lights, installed on four 40-meter towers.

To prevent bird deaths, the power plant employees installed LED bulbs instead flood lights, as they attract fewer insects, and also machines that spray aviant irritant. However, they won’t know how effective these measures are until after a couple of months: they need to compare the number of dying birds with the previous observations.

Other animals who are attracted to light also suffer from Ivanpah. It is difficult to estimate their quantity.

Ivanpah produces 390 megawatts of energy and is the biggest solar plant in the world. The example of Ivanpah shows that ‘future energy’ based on environmental ways of energy production is no less a threat to wildlife than traditional power plants, the Los Angeles Times concludes.