Concentrating solar power: a renewable energy frontier

Figures & data

Table 1. Major difference between concentrating solar power and photovoltaic.

Concentrating solar power (CSP)	Photovoltaic (PV)
Solar energy is converted into energy, concentrated via fields of lenses and mirrors on a heat pipe, or tower, which produces temperature sufficient to turn water into steam and drive a turbine – just as in a thermal power station.	Solar energy is converted directly into electric power via the photoelectric effect, as in photovoltaic cells.

Table 2. Concentrating solar power projects in China (up to September 2014).

Name	Location	Capacity (MW)	Expected completion year	Technology used
Private firmsDelingha Supcon Tower Plant (funded by Zhejiang SUPCON Solar Energy Technology)	Qinghai	50	Under construction	Central receiver (power tower)
Shandong Penglai and eSolar	Shaanxi	50–2000	Under construction	Parabolic trough
Erdos Solar Power Plant	Inner Mongolia	50	Planned	Parabolic trough
HelioFocus China Orion Project	Inner Mongolia	1/10/60 (3 phases)	Under construction	Parabolic dish
Jinshawan	Inner Mongolia	27.5 (where operations at 200kW are under way)	Planned	Solar updraft tower
e-Cube 1 (funded by China Huaneng Group)	Hainan	1.5	2013	Modular heliostat with Himin* (the first in the world)
ChabeiState-owned firms involved	Hebei	64	Planned	Parabolic trough
Dahan Power Plant (funded by MOST, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission)	Beijing (Badaling)	1	2012	Central receiver (power tower)
Huludao CSP plant (funded by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), US-China Economic and Cultural Development Alliance (ECDA), and SkyFuel)	Liaoning	50	N/A	Parabolic trough
Hanas New Energy Group	Ningxia	92.5	Planned	parabolic trough solar and natural gas
Delingha Solar Power Plant (invested by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group)	Qinghai	50	Under construction	Parabolic trough
Lenon New Energy Co (with China Datang Corporation Renewable Power Co)	Inner Mongolia	50	Under construction	Parabolic trough
Baoding Tianwei Group	Sichuan province (will probably be switched to Xinjiang)	100	Announced	Parabolic trough
Huadian Jinta Solar Thermal Power Plant (2 phases)	Gansu	50/150	Development	Parabolic trough
Baoding Tianwei with China Datang Corporation Renewable Power Co	Gansu/ Inner Mongolia	10/50	Planned	Parabolic trough
Shanghai Gongdian Energy Technology	Hangzhou	100	Planned	Solar tower and heliostats
CPI Golmud Solar Thermal Power Plant (funded by China Power Investments) Corporation	Golmud, Qinghai	100	Under construction	Parabolic trough
Beijing Kangtuo Holding	Inner Mongolia	550	Announced	Parabolic trough

Note. Established in 1995, the Himin Solar Company has emerged as China's principal supplier of heliostats and coated steel tube for heat collection; it operates technologies covering the field of CSP, including parabolic troughs, power towers, and dish collectors.

CSP: Concentrating solar power.

Source: Authors; also data compiled from the CSP Today.

Figure 1. The CSP industrial value chain in China. CSP: Concentrating solar power; EPC: Engineering, procurement and construction contractors. Data from CSP Today [8], compiled by the authors.

Table 3. Concentrating solar power projects in India (up to September 2014).

Name	Owner(s)	Status	Power (MW)	Technology
Abhijeet	Corporate Ispat Alloys	Planned	50	Parabolic trough
Acme Solar Thermal Tower (Phase 1/2)	ACME	Operation on hold	2.50/10	Central receiver (power tower)
Bap Project	Dalmia Solar Power	Planned	10	Dish stirling
Diwakar	Lanco Infratech	Under construction	100	Parabolic trough
Godawari Green Energy	Hira group	Operational	50	Parabolic trough
Gujarat	Gujarat State Electricity Corporation	Announced	50	Parabolic trough
Gujarat Solar One	Cargo Power & Infrastructure	Under construction	25	Parabolic trough
Indian Institute of Technology CSP Project	Abengoa	Operation	3	Parabolic trough
SEC Plant	Indian Institute of Technology	Operation	N/A	Fresnel
India One Solar Thermal Power Plant	N/A	Planned	1	Dish stirling
LFR Solar Thermal Desalination plant	KGDS Renewable Energy Private Limited	Operation	1.06	Fresnel
KGDS Narippaiyur desalination CSP plant	KGDS Renewable Energy Private Limited	Operation	N/A	Fresnel
KVK Energy	KVK Energy, Lanco Solar Energy	Planned	100	Parabolic trough
Megha Engineering	Megha Engineering & Infrastructure	Under construction	50	Parabolic trough
National Solar Thermal Power Plant	IIT-Bombay, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India	Under construction	1	Parabolic trough
National Solar Thermal Power Plant – Fresnel	IIT-Bombay, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India	Operation	N/A	Fresnel
Rajasthan Solar One	Entegra Limited	Planned	10	Parabolic trough
Rajasthan Sun Technique – Dhursar	Reliance Power	Commissioned	125	Fresnel

Source: Authors, based on CSP Today.

Figure 2. The CSP industrial value chain in India (up to May 2013). CSP: Concentrating solar power; EPC: Engineering, procurement and construction contractors. Source: CSP Today [8]

Table 4. Concentrating solar power projects in Middle East–North Africa countries (up to September 2014).

Name	Country	Power (MW)	Technology	Status
Beni Abbes	Algeria	150	Tower	Announced
DLR-Algeria CSP Project	Algeria	7	Tower	Planned
El Oued	Algeria	150	Tower	Announced
Hassi-R’mel	Algeria	25	Parabolic trough	In operation
Hassi-R’mel II	Algeria	70	Parabolic trough	Announced
Meghaïer	Algeria	70	Parabolic trough	Announced
Naâma	Algeria	70	Parabolic trough	Announced
Eos CSP Project	Cyprus	50	Tower	Planned
Helios Power	Cyprus	50	Dish	Announced
Kom Ombo	Egypt	100	Parabolic trough	On hold
Kuraymat ISCC	Egypt	20	Parabolic trough	In operation
Marsa Alam	Egypt	30	Parabolic trough	Announced
Mitsubishi Corporation Jordan	Jordan	50	To be confirmed	Cancelled
KenGen CSP Plant	Kenya	20	To be confirmed	Announced
Al Abdaliyah Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC)	Kuwait	60	Parabolic trough	In development
Lebanon Concentrated Solar Power Plant	Lebanon	50	To be confirmed	Announced
Libia Fresnel	Libya	15	Fresnel	Unconfirmed
Ain-Beni-Mathar ISCC	Morocco	20	Parabolic trough	In operation
Airlight Energy Ait Baha Plant	Morocco	3	Parabolic trough	Under construction
CSP-ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) Pilot Plant	Morocco	1	To be confirmed	Announced
Noor I	Morocco	160	Parabolic trough	Under construction
Noor II	Morocco	200	Parabolic trough	In development
Noor III	Morocco	100	Tower	In development
NamPower/MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy (Namibia)) Pilot Project	Namibia	50	To be confirmed	Announced
Duba 1 ISCC	Saudi Arabia	50	To be confirmed	In development
Akarit	Tunisia	50	Parabolic trough	In development
Elmed CSP Project	Tunisia	100	Parabolic trough	On hold
1 GW Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park	UAE	1000	Combined PV and CSP	Planned
Dish Stirling Pilot Project	UAE	0.11	Dish	Announced

Source: Authors, based on CSP Today.

Table 5. Concentrating solar power projects in South Africa (up to September 2014).

Name	Power (MW)	Technology	Status
!Xun Khwe Solar Farm	100	Fresnel	Planned
1 GW Solar Corridor (Phase I)	N/A	N/A	Announced
Ariesfontein	100	Central receiver (power tower)	Planned
Bokpoort	50	Parabolic trough	Under construction
Ennex Dish Stirling	15	Dish	Announced
Ilanga	100	Parabolic trough	In development
Ilanga II	100	Parabolic trough	Planned
Karoshoek 1 GW Solar Park	N/A	N/A	Planned
Kathu CSP	100	Parabolic trough	Planned
KaXu Solar One	100	Parabolic trough	Under construction
Khi Solar One	50	Tower	Under construction
Kiwano Solar Power Plant (Eskom)	100	Tower	In development
Metsimatala Solar Farm	50	Fresnel	Planned
MTN Cooling System	0.33	Fresnel	In operation

Source: Authors, based on CSP Today.

Table 6. Concentrating solar power projects in South America (up to September 2014).

Name	Country	Power (MW)	Technology	Status
Valles Calchaquies Salta	Argentina	20	Parabolic trough	Planned
Coremas	Brazil	50	Parabolic trough	Announced
Helioterm	Brazil	1	Parabolic trough	In development
Pirelli/Archimede CSP Project	Brazil	1.4	Parabolic trough	Planned
Copiapo CSP-PV hybrid project	Chile	260	Tower	Announced
Enerstar María Elena ISCC	Chile	170	Parabolic trough	Announced
Maria Elena 1/2/3/4	Chile	100/100/100/100	Tower	Announced
Mejillones	Chile	5	Fresnel	Planned
Minera el Tesoro	Chile	10	Parabolic trough	In operation
Pedro de Valdivia (Phase I/II)	Chile	90/90	Parabolic trough	Announced
Planta Solar Cerro Dominador	Chile	110	Tower	Under construction
Agua Prieta II	Mexico	12	Parabolic trough	Under construction
MicroCSP Solar Cooling at Holcim	Mexico	N/A	Parabolic trough	Under construction

Source: Authors, based on CSP Today.

Figure 3. Global concentrating solar power patenting trends, 1980–2011. 
Source: EPO Espacenet worldwide patent database, compiled by the authors.

Table

Appendix A. Patent classifications for concentrating solar power technologies.
Cooperative patent classification^†	Description
Y02E10/40	Solar thermal energy
Y02E10/41	• Tower concentrators
Y02E10/42	• Dish collectors
Y02E10/43	• Fresnel lenses
Y02E10/44	• Heat exchange systems
Y02E10/45	• Trough concentrators
Y02E10/46	• Conversion of thermal power into mechanical power, e.g. Rankine, Stirling solar thermal engines
Y02E10/465	• Thermal updraft
Y02E10/47	• Mountings or tracking

^† Cooperative patent classification designations under the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, as agreed between the EPO and USPTO in 2013.

Source: Compiled by the authors from EPO's Espacenet database.

CSP Today market report 2014. Chapter 9: China, pp.257–297. CSP Today, London, UK (2014).

 Google Scholar