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OtherUnited StatesEIR-1508

Fire damages tower at Ivanpah solar plant

2016Published 28 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantThermal / fireProvisional
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersMedium confidence
out of service for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden
Where
Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave desert
What
Fire at one tower scorched and melted metal pipes
Injuries
None reported
Cause
Not reported

What happened

A fire occurred at one of the three towers at the Ivanpah concentrated solar power plant in the Mojave desert. Metal pipes in the tower were scorched and melted. The fire service suggested misaligned mirrors may have concentrated sunlight on the wrong part of the tower. The operator said the cause was still too early to determine, and that damage was being assessed and a repair plan developed.

Contributing factors

Misaligned mirrors were suggested by the fire service as a possible cause, which the operator had not confirmed. The plant uses a very large number of computer-controlled moving mirrors to concentrate sunlight, which the reporting describes as harder to maintain than static panels.

Lessons learned

  1. Where mirrors can be misaligned, operators should be able to check alignment before concentrated sunlight can fall on the wrong part of a tower.
  2. Maintenance for large fields of moving mirrors needs to account for the number of individual components.
  3. Operators of concentrating solar plants should keep a plan for assessing tower damage and arranging repair after a fire.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Cause of the fire
  • Extent of the damage
  • Downtime and repair cost

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

wired.com

Published 2026-09-28. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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