This is the one Google was big into.
One would think the performance of this project could have been predicted to within a few percent, especially given the fact that there have been many projects based on the same principles around the world, as well as in California, back in the 90s.
This was basically a scale-up of an existing technology.
I might be wrong, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that at least part of the shortfall is due to the bigger plant needing to take extra steps regarding the ongoing bird kill and the flight hazard, and those steps are cutting into production capacity.
Some things have an optimal efficiency that doesn’t scale well going up or down.
But if they allowed smaller, efficient solar driven boiler systems then it is too easy for the citizenry to bypass the system devised to tax the energy.
A big problem with ‘green’ energy is an inability for people to make realistic estimates of cost/output/maintenance/etc.
The California Energy Commission blames bad output on “clouds, jet contrails and weather”
My first reaction - they didn’t anticipate weather and clouds on the front end?!?!
But why should they, the DOE was handing out money by the truckload.