Solar Concentrating Power Alliance

What is concentrating solar power (CSP)?

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP, also as solar thermal power, solar thermal electricity) is a process that converts solar energy into thermal energy and generates electricity through thermal power conversion.

Does China have a concentrating solar power plant?

appropriate permissions from these third parties may need to be secured before any use of such material. China's Concentrating solar power (CSP) installation capacity reached 538MW (including the full systems of 1MW level with a steam turbine) by the end of 2021. No new CSP plants that was connected to the grid since the last September.

How many solar thermal power demonstration projects are there in China?

The Blue Book summarizes the operational status of seven solar thermal power demonstration projects in China and one solar tower plant in a multi-energy complementary project.

How can a solar power plant increase net power generation?

The increase of annual net power generation can be achieved by improving the system eficiency and reducing the plant electricity consumption. As mentioned earlier, the costs of solar concentration, heat absorption and thermal energy storage system account for a high percentage of the total investment in solar thermal power plants.

How much solar power does China have?

According to statistics of the China Solar Thermal Alliance, by the end of 2021, the total installed capacity of global solar thermal power generation reached 6.8 GW, and the figure in China was 538 MW (only including power generation systems at or higher than the MW scale).

How much does a 50MW solar power plant cost in China?

The operating cost of a 50MW solar thermal power plant in China is about RMB 0.05/kWh, which mainly includes labor cost, maintenance cost, spare parts cost, purchased electricity, water cost, material cost, etc.; among which labor cost accounts for the highest percentage.