Despite a renewable capacity of 2.6 times peak demand, Spain’s intermittent renewables do not provide grid needs for operating reserves and frequency stability, so they have not displaced conventional fossil technologies Source: EVWind Each MW of solar thermal power can replace each MW of gas and achieve a total transition of the electricity sector, which […]

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/06/01/heliostat-consortium-announces-funding-awards-aimed-at-lowering-costs-barriers-to-widespread-heliostat-deployment/ The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories, co-leads of the Heliostat Consortium, announced seven awardees from a request for proposals (RFP) aimed at achieving DOE’s goals for heliostat cost reduction, sustained multifaceted innovation, and improved solar field performance. Heliostats are mirrors that track the sun in order to […]

Solgest-1, the first new Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) project in Spain could start construction this year The thermal energy storage of the Solgest-1 110 MW CSP will generate 1,900 MWh. The total 150 MW of solar energy will be a hybrid of CSP with 40 MW PV, sited in Andalucia, near Sener’s Gemasolar Tower CSP, […]

A new solar-radiation-concentrating device produces green hydrogen at a rate of more than 2 kilowatts while maintaining efficiencies above 20%. The pilot-scale device, which is already operational under real sunlight conditions, also produces usable heat and oxygen, and its developers at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland say it could be commercialized […]

Source: Helios CSP Built by China Shipbuilding New Power, and featuring the EuroTrough, China’s largest trough CSP plant achieves a record annual output China’s largest trough solar thermal power plant, located in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, generated 330 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the 12-month period ending on March 31 this year. Designed and […]

Source: CSPPlaza The daily output of Power China’s` Gonghe 50MW tower solar thermal power plant hit a record high in a single month. Recently, the latest statistics of Gonghe 50MW solar thermal power station, Qinghai Branch of China Power Construction New Energy Group, show that the cumulative power generation of the power station in April […]

ACWA Power has announced the commercial operation of the world’s tallest solar power tower at its Noor Energy 1 project in Dubai. The 100 MW central tower is part of the 950 MW solar Independent Power Project (IPP) that comprises 700 MW of CSP (600 MW of Trough and 100 MW of Tower) as well […]

“The power grid company is requested to give priority support to the grid connection and dispatching of the base projects equipped with solar thermal power” says a new government planning document. Source: CSPPlaza China National Energy Administration issued the Notice Related to Promoting the Large-scale Development of Solar Thermal Power. Recently, China National Energy Administration […]

CSP Focus reports via email (More Detail is available for CSP Focus Membership.) 619MWh Daily Generation – Power China Gonghe 50MW Tower CSP Project Recently, the news came from Power China Gonghe 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Project, after the single-day power generation reached 572,000 kWh on March 9, 2023, the single-day power generation of […]

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Solar Energy Engineering The Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (www.mavt.ethz.ch) at ETH Zurich invites applications for the above-​mentioned position. Successful applicants must demonstrate an excellent international record of research accomplishments in solar energy science and engineering. The new professor is expected to establish an ambitious, world-​class research program in […]

The CSIRO Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap identifies Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) as the lowest cost technology for long-duration renewable energy storage, among the storage technologies required to reach net zero in Australia. The CSIRO Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap outlines the significant role that concentrating solar thermal power (often referred to as CSP or CST) will play […]

First networking event of Women+ in Concentrated Solar Rebecca Mitchell works at NREL on algorithms to determine error of heliostats and she’s also creating a database on CSP education related materials. During the first networking event on March 9, 2023, she met with many CSP experts, who could provide her materials for her database. Also, […]

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has issued a request for information (RFI) on the technology needs and cost targets for renewable fuels produced using solar-thermal energy and thermal energy storage. SETO requests feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, […]

The pilot at Sandia will demonstrate its next-generation high-temperature concentrated solar technology that can be used for energy storage, power production, industrial process heat, or solar fuel production. Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) celebrated the groundbreaking of its Generation 3 concentrating solar-thermal pilot facility at Sandia National Laboratories. This […]

Vast Solar now Vast with NETC on the NY Stock Exchange. The Australian firm is a previous winner of the SolarPACES Innovation Award Read More …

“Today, Treasury and IRS, in partnership with DOE, announced the intent to release approximately $4 billion in a first round of tax credits for projects that expand U.S. supply chains for clean energy technologies and critical materials for clean energy technology production, and for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities. Approximately $1.6 […]

Women in CSP advancing a game-changing solar technology of the future gain 100 members, start website Read More …

HySiLabs has pioneered a low-cost, non-toxic, non-explosive green hydrogen storage method in a liquid at ambient pressures and temperatures  Read More …

[Ed: the novel STELLIO heliostats  seen here, and used in this Hami Tower CSP project, won the SolarPACES Innovation Award for 2015] MASERMIC and SBP Sonne have completed the commissioning of the 50MW HAMI tower solar plant located in CHINA, XINJIANG province. It is based on the STELLIO heliostat solar field technology. The solar plant […]

Background: Concentrated solar thermal energy uses thermal energy storage. And China currently has 30 CSP projects under construction with thermal energy storage. Various options of energy storage are described in patented solutions in the field of solar energy. They include such technologies as those using latent heat, molten materials, compressed air, and chemical reactions. In […]

  1414 Degrees has reached a major milestone in the development of its SiBox Demonstration Module. Construction is almost complete, meaning that the company is now confident enough to move forward with the installation of its thermal energy storage media (silicon) and is expecting to be able to commission the demonstration module sometime shortly this […]

Heliostat cost reduction is necessary to lower the cost of tower CSP. As many as 10,000 heliostats comprise the solar field. Read More …

The US DOE announces new 2023 solar technologies funding for early stage CSP/CST innovations Read More …

Solar PV and CSP are the best suited renewables to drive MENA region synthetic fuel production potential at low cost Read More …

The solar furnace in Parkent, Uzbekistan will be used to recycle 50 tons of steel by the Swiss firm, Panatère in 2023 Read More …

Source: El Pais (Google translated from French) Between the deposits of the road that leads to Rjim Maatoug, along the Algerian border and 120 kilometers from Kébili, in the south of Tunisia, only hydrocarbon tankers pass through in an incessant ballet. This area, where identical-looking towns are threaded together, bordered by a palm grove that […]

  The energy stored in 700 MW of Shanghai Electric’s trough tower CSP, once all units are operational, can generate power continuously for a maximum of 13.5 hours at night and 15 hours during periods of inclement weather. Source: Shanghai Electric for CSPFocus On November 29 (Dubai Time), the Trough Unit No. 1 facility of […]

20 MW Thermal Energy Storage Trials Hydroxide Molten Salt at the offshore energy island Bornholm Source: Recharge: Denmark’s ‘energy island’ of Bornholm is to host what is being claimed as “game changing” molten salts-based storage technology that its developer aims to deploy as a future large-scale source of renewable heat and power. Hyme Energy will […]

Source: Economia Digital The low price of the ministry and the uncertainty of connection delay the installation of a new solar thermal, which in 2025 should be double the current one according to the PNIEC. The generation of energy with solar thermal technology has been stuck for a decade in Spain. Not a single new […]

Email from CSP Focus China 2022, Nov 2&3 in Beijing The development of CSP is entering into a fast track in 2022 here in China.  Within the Multi-Energy RE complexes combining with PV and/or Wind, CSP is playing a role as stabilizer and regulator, easing the power fluctuation and curtailment of PV and Wind, through […]

Press Release: Abengoa wins solar project of the year award for Noor 1 At Noor 1 Abengoa has been responsible for providing the technology, design, engineering of the HTF system, as well as the construction of the collectors for three parabolic trough plants (200 MW each) in the world’s largest solar complex: the Mohammed bin […]

DOE Announces $24 Million Awards; $10.7 Million for Gen-3 CSP and $13.2 to Advance Concentrated Solar-Thermal Technologies for Industrial Decarbonization DOE also Releases Strategic Roadmap to Enhance Ability to Harness Solar Power, Lower Costs for Mirrors used in Concentrating Solar Power Plants WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a new roadmap […]

Dr Avi Schultz Conference Chair Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Program Manager Solar Energy Technologies Office U.S. Department of Energy I’m excited to see you all in person in Albuquerque in less than two weeks, and launch the packed agenda we have for the SolarPACES conference. Kicking things off on Tuesday, September 27th, we’ll be welcomed […]

Source: CSPFocus September: Equipment Procurement Tenders- CGN New Energy Jilin 100MW CSP Project On September 2, Da’an Guangtou Zhongneng CSP Company issued a bidding announcement for the turbine generator set, steam generation system, solar concentration and heat collection system, cold salt pump, hot salt pump and thermoregulation pump of CGN New Energy Jilin 100MW CSP […]

Press Release: Paving the way for solar fuels: Jülich, Germany, August 18, 2022 Synhelion has become the first company in the world to succeed in producing syngas on an industrial scale using only solar heat as an energy source. The Swiss solar fuel pioneer successfully demonstrated this on the multi-focus solar tower of the German […]

[ED: All four projects follow China’s renewables scale-up plan of 1 GW renewables projects, where 100 MW of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is co-located with 900 MW of Photovoltaic (PV) in order to provide thermal energy storage, to extend the hours of solar generation past nightfall and to stabilize the grid in tandem as wind […]

(Montel) Spain plans to auction 520 MW of renewable energy capacity on 25 October amid its ongoing effort to curb carbon emissions. The auction will award 140 MW for photovoltaic projects below 5 MW, 220 MW for solar thermal, 140 MW for biomass and 20 MW for other technologies including biogas, bioliquids, hydropower or tidal […]

Particle-based Solar Energy Capture and Storage for Concentrated Solar Power Particle-based solar thermal energy storage (TES) coupled to concentrated solar power (CSP) is an attractive pathway towards operating at elevated temperatures while extending electricity production beyond diurnal periods of on-sun operation. Operation at elevated temperatures necessitates higher solar concentration ratios at MWth-scales that are only […]

July 18, 2022 Xinjiang: The Xinhua Power Generation Company held a groundbreaking ceremony, together with Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, celebrating the start of the firm’s 1 GW new solar energy project at Bozhou, located on the north side of G219 National Road west of Bole City at Aheqi Farm, Jinghe County in Xinjiang Province, China. […]

Press Release OAKLAND, Calif. – July 13, 2022 – TITAN Cement Group joins decarbonization and electrification investment leaders, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Energy Impact Partners, in supporting Rondo Energy (“Rondo”) through its recent Series A financing round for the scale-up of its innovative “heat battery” technology, aiming to provide new solutions for decarbonizing power generation and […]

As of July 5, 2022, Cosin Solar’s pilot project the SUPCON Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant generated 755 MWh of electricity in a single day. With this latest single-day generating record, the plant has now achieved an annual record as well. In just 11 months, the plant has already generated its entire projected […]

https://youtu.be/wdC5cXR-7M8 What is the current status of China’s CSP projects? Here Fengli Du of China Solar Thermal Alliance reveals the data on China’s CSP projects to date and underway in this webinar, hosted by SolarPACES Secretariat Christoph Richter, and now available online here. China has emerged as a key driver of the future of Concentrated […]

Zoom Webinar: Presentation of Blue Book of China’s CSP Industry 2021 Date and Time: June 27, 2022, 14:00-14:45 CEST (Central European Summer Time) Agenda: Opening: Christoph Richter, Executive Secretary SolarPACES Introductory Comments: Zhifeng Wang, Chairman of China Solar Thermal Alliance Presentation of Blue Book 2021: Fengli Du, Secretary of China Solar Thermal Alliance Q&A: Participants […]

Jinta County, Gansu Province: The Jinta Zhongguang Solar Energy 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project has broken ground, meeting the initial construction milestone by beginning concrete work for the receiver tower foundation. This 100MW CSP project was originally part of the first round of China’s pilot projects back in 2016. But the developer failed […]

The Blue Book on China’s CSP Industry 2021 lays out current detail on the performance of the current Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects in China, and the scale-up plan as China increases its overall renewable energy percentage on the grid. The Blue Book includes very detailed information on the performance of all of the currently […]

Source: email from Sunny Sun; CSPFocus China Three Gorges New Energy has issued the bidding announcement on the EPC of two 100MW CSP projects, both are located in Qinghai province, northwest of China. According to the announcement (in Chinese), both projects are planned to start on July 1st 2022, and completed in full capacity by […]

[Ed: Their GlassPoint technology won the SolarPACES Technology Innovation Awardin 2016] From CSPFocus Saudi Arabia has signed an MOU with the California-based firm GlassPoint to build the world’s biggest solar thermal steam producing plant there. The facility will generate steam directly to make aluminum.  Aluminum is used in such products as cars, computers, and cell […]

Need for energy storage increases as China overshoots renewable deployment Read More …

(From Utility Dive) Dive Brief: To help commercialize emerging energy storage that can power the grid for at least 10 hours, the Department of Energy has launched a $505 million four-year initiative. It aims to lower barriers to grid energy storage, and support small-scale, behind-the-meter pilots as well as large utility-scale demonstrations. DOE’s initiative, announced […]

Gearing up your company to capitalize on the utility-scale energy storage boom in the US A decarbonizing grid relying on variable renewable – solar PV and wind – for the lion’s share of the energy it integrates, will over time require energy services and increasingly rely on energy storage to maintain inertia and firmness. Whichever […]

Source: Green Car Congress 06 May 2022 Perovskite materials may hold the potential to play an important role in a process to produce hydrogen in a renewable manner, according to an analysis from scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Hydrogen has emerged as an important carrier to store energy generated by renewable resources, as a […]

New energy installed capacity, accounting for 70.2% of total installed capacity, will comprise 34 GW, with wind power comprising 27 GW, photovoltaic 6.5 GW, and CSP 250 MW. Source: China National Solar Thermal Alliance According to the news from the Hami Financial Media Center on March 12, with the implementation of the “Xinjiang Electric Power […]

IEA  provides 10-Point Plan to European Union for reducing reliance on Russian supplies by over a third while supporting European Green Deal, with emergency options to go further Download image Do not sign any new gas supply contracts with Russia. [Impact: Enables greater diversification of supply this year and beyond] Replace Russian supplies with gas […]

Acwa Power’s Redstone project  construction is well underway  and is currently in its ninth month of construction, with commercial operation scheduled to start in Q4 2023. The engineering works for the project is over 58% completed, whereas procurement and construction works stand at over 45% and 6% respectively. A key construction milestone, tower foundation for […]

Previous post: Botswana Looking for Bids for 200 MW of CSP Interested independent power producers (IPPs) have until April 11th, 2022 to apply for the pre-qualification process for the construction of two thermodynamic solar power plants in Botswana. Botswana’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security has issued a call for expressions of interest from […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (CSP) Fiscal Year 2022 Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) funding program, which will award up to $25 million for innovative research and development projects in CSP technologies. These projects will accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of solar technologies. CSP technologies offer value as renewable energy resources that can […]

High wind loads increase structural design costs of concentrating solar power (CSP) collector structures, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs. In a new two-year project, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will work with the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to conduct two comprehensive at-scale field measurements […]

Press Release: A consortium that comprises Vast Solar, CyD, Solar Dynamics, Alia Energy Consulting and Critical Engineering, has jointly developed Flexitank, a novel design for high temperature molten salt thermal energy storage tanks used in CSP and standalone thermal energy storage. The Flexitank solves a serious issue in the CSP industry. Due to the impacts […]

The Sun-to-Liquids project has been developed by a consortium integrated by the leading European solar research laboratories and CSP industry leaders: ETH Zurich, DLR, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, IMDEA Energy, HyGear Technology & Services B.V and Abengoa. The aim is to produce renewable transportation fuels from water and CO2 with solar energy: The first synthesis of solar […]

At the 2021 SolarPACES Conference, NamPower generation projects head Grant Muller laid out the national power company’s now finalized plans for a CSP project in Namibia, for between 50 MW and 130 MW, with storage. After 4 years of preparations, it is ready for its first CSP auction in 2022. The small African nation has […]

IEA report calls for the development of national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps, new incentives for low-carbon hydrogen, and new certification requirements alongside increased research and infrastructure spending. Source: Utility Dive  Dive Brief: Global electrolyzer capacity for producing hydrogen could reach up to 89 GW by 2030 thanks in part to $37 billion in government spending […]

Spain to launch a third renewable auction – to include Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) – before the end of 2021 October 4, 2021: The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge plans to launch a third renewable auction before the end of the year. According to the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, […]

DLR and CSP Services Win the SolarPACES 2021 Award for their Solar Flux Density Measurement System. New measuring system determines the flux density of receivers in solar tower power plants This year’s SolarPACES Technology Award goes to a team of researchers from the DLR Institute of Solar Research and CSP Services. The measurement method they […]

To expand internationally with its high temperature solar fuels, Synhelion now acquires high temperature solar field experts Heliokon Read More …

Seramic Materials 100% recycled ceramic stores heat at temperatures up to 1250°C for thermal energy storage or high temperature CST processes Read More …

Source: CSP Focus A 3,300 MW solar project in Quinghai Province in China will combine both types of solar; PV and CSP with thermal energy storage, with total investment of 19.575 billion CNY (3 billion USD). The planned total installed capacity is 3.3GW, including 3GW PV, 300MW CSP (600 MW electric heating molten salt thermal […]

The online registration is now available on the conference website. As you know, SolarPACES 2021 will be our second online conference, held from September 27 – October 01, 2021. SolarPACES 2020 revealed the many benefits of being online, with more of us able to share our work and participate from our home office, and we expect to make […]

[This “only pre-commercial” and “over 6 hours” storage RFP would favor thermal energy storage concepts currently near commercial readiness.] The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is calling for project submissions to advance, develop or field-test energy storage technologies that can address challenges associated with the cost, performance or technical integration of […]

The scientific journal ‘Energies’ is arranging a Special Issue on ‘Solar Thermochemical Production of Material Commodities’ with a deadline for submissions on 1 September, 2021. We, as guest editors, are pleased to invite you to submit high-quality unpublished contributions on recent advances in applications of concentrated solar radiation to high-temperature industrial processes with a strong […]

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal receives Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Robert Pitz-Paal, director at the Institute of Solar Research of the German Aerospace Center, has been named the 2021 recipient of the Frank Kreith Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The award was established in 2005 […]

Since 2013, the German Association for Concentrated Solar Power has been committed to the generation and use of electricity, heat and fuels from concentrated solar technologies. Its members cover the entire CSP value chain. This ranges from project development and planning, engineering services, component supply and system integration to the ownership and operation of solar […]

HELIOGEN RAISES $108 MILLION TO ADVANCE NEW NON-INTERMITTENT RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY FOR HEAT, POWER, AND GREEN HYDROGEN Two funding rounds accelerate global deployment of Heliogen’s breakthrough AI-assisted concentrated solar thermal technology Press Release: PASADENA, California, June 15, 2021 – Heliogen, the renewable energy technology company unlocking the power of sunlight to replace fossil fuels, today announced that it has raised $108 million in […]

How does a solar thermal power plant work? How can solar thermal power plants contribute to security of supply? What role do solar thermal power plants play in an energy system based on renewable energy sources? What skills are required to build and operate solar thermal power plants? Which factors support an accelerated proliferation of […]

SHANGHAI, June 11, 2021 /PRNewswire Shanghai Electric announced positive results of the first molten salt tank hydro test for the Parabolic Trough Plant-II which forms part of the 1GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. The test was carried out on May 9, and its success laid a crucial foundation for the next phase […]

  By 2050 Chile plans to be carbon neutral. A crucial part of that goal is the decarbonisation of its energy mix. To do this, all coal-fired power plants will stop operating by 2040. To deliver maximum benefit, two additional challenges must be met: replacing Chile’s energy currently produced by coal; and finding a use for the […]

The DLR Institute of Solar Research will focus in the 24th Cologne Solar Colloquium on solar process heat from low temperature to high temperature applications. Speakers from research and industry partners will present current usage, future perspectives and will report on their experiences with existing systems. In the context of high temperature solar process heat […]

PRESS RELEASE ACWA Power has led South Africa’s largest renewable energy project Redstone CSP to financial close The ZAR 11.6 billion Redstone concentrated solar power (CSP) plant will power 200,000 households upon completion Commercial operation scheduled to start in Q4 2023 Johannesburg, South Africa, 10 May 2021: ACWA Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor and […]

Source: Sandia National Laboratories ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  A team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories recently used tethered balloons to collect samples of airborne dust particles to ensure the safety of a falling-particle receiver for concentrating solar power, an emerging solar power technology. (Photo by Randy Montoya) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image. Researchers from […]

Source: El Periódico de la Energía Ramon Roca 04/12/21 “We are proud of this new milestone in the development of our project. Having begun to deliver electricity to the National Electric System shows the reality and benefits of CSP technology. We know that the entry of a new technology to the country is a great responsibility, that […]

Description On March 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Fiscal Year 2021 Photovoltaics and Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (FY21 PV and CSP) funding program, which will provide $39.5 million for projects that will advance solar PV and CSP research and development (R&D) and help eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the […]

The 2010 SolarPACES Lifetime Award Winner Professor Valeriano Ruiz passed away earlier this week. From SolarPACES we would like to express our sympathy and condolences to his family and friends. Professor Valeriano Ruiz was among the earliest pioneers of solar thermal technology in Spain beginning in the 1970s, including pioneering the teaching of solar concentrating technologies as Professor on Thermodynamics […]

Source: Energy Storage News A US$75 million national research and development (R&D) facility for energy storage is expected to be up and running by 2025, the US Department of Energy (DOE) said yesterday. Called the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), 30 separate research laboratories will be hosted at the site including technology prototype testing chambers and […]

Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility launches R&D Voucher Program to further Concentrating Solar Power technologies January 29, 2021 9:21 pmPublished by Kelly Sullivan Sandia National Laboratories is currently seeking applications from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and individuals to further technologies related to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility […]

Press Release: schlaich bergermann partner (sbp)  The German solar engineering consultancy schlaich bergermann partner (sbp) supplied the EuroTrough solar collector for the 100MW Urat CSP project in Inner Mongolia, the largest commercial parabolic trough project in China. The Urat project was developed and realized as part of the first round of the Chinese renewable energy demonstration […]

Swedish startup Azelio will see its long-duration Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technology used at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Complex (MBR) in Dubai, UAE. Recycled aluminium alloy is used as a phase change material to store heat which is then converted to electricity. The company’s TES technology stores energy as heat in a […]

Reuters: Saudi fund raises ownership stake in ACWA Power to 50% -statement CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Thursday it has increased its stake in ACWA Power to 50% from 33.6% as part of a move to support the renewable energy sector in Saudi Arabia. ACWA […]

CSP uses thermal power blocks like coal plants, but the advantage is that sunlight is the “fuel” so solar can be stored for very long periods Read More …

Webinar: Retrofitting CSP projects to store and integrate variable renewable energy (VRE) in the grid 5 November at 12:00 CET (Check your local time) Spain’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PINEC) targets 74% of power from renewable sources by 2030, with more than 25GW of PV capacity expected to be added by that year. Hybrid […]

Wednesday October 28th at 12:00 CET CSP is a key player in the renewable energy market, overcoming some of the issues PV plants leave in the dispatch of solar energy. Tower projects with molten salt storage have taken key attention of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects, helping to provide dispatchability and flexibility to grid operators.< CSP […]

The American-Made Challenges: Solar Desalination Prize is a four-stage, $9 million prize competition, providing an additional $1 million in support, designed to accelerate the development of low-cost desalination systems that use solar-thermal power to produce clean water from salt water. Competitors will receive cash prizes as they advance through each stage of the competition, culminating […]

Bokpoort’s thermal storage also powered the grid during the critical evening peak of 4pm – 10pm daily with about 82% Peak Hour Load Factor Read More …

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology is being successfully applied to treat wastewater effectively and do so while driving down costs and lower carbon emissions. Source: Rioglass Wastewater treatment is an increasingly complex and resource intensive process. Many operators of wastewater processing plants have been looking for ways to lower their OPEX costs while using less […]

Australian solar thermal developer Vast Solar has unveiled plans to take its technology into the mainstream, unveiling a $600 million proposal to build a “baseload” solar plant in Mt Isa that will combine solar thermal, solar PV, battery storage and fast-acting gas generators. The plan, being supported and advised by Energy Estate, is to build […]

The Zambian subsidiary of the Chinese giant Sinohydro has been chosen to carry out the civil engineering work for the construction of the Kalulushi solar concentration plant (SCP) in the copper belt province. Chinese state-owned Sinohydro is the world’s 14th largest hydropower engineering and construction company. The project is being developed by the Independent Power […]

How do the big objectives announced by the European Commission turn into actionable projects for renewables and storage of hydrogen in the different country members? Which programs that apply to CSP and thermal storage are currently being discussed in Brussels? How can CSP and thermal storage become a commercial reality in the post-covid scenario? In […]

The IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit on 9 July will bring together countries representing the vast majority of the global economy The year’s largest global gathering on energy and climate issues aims to support a resilient and sustainable economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis Ministers from countries representing the vast majority of global GDP, energy use […]

The China Dunhuang Dacheng 50MW molten salt linear Fresnel CSP project plant has now officially begun commercial operation on June 19, 2020. To celebrate the occasion of commercial operation of the first ever molten salt Fresnel CSP occasion, the developers and contractors held a commissioning ceremony. Pioneers molten salt for Fresnel CSP This project is […]

Abengoa plans to “bolt-on” novel low-cost storage to some of the first Spanish trough CSP plants, that were built without storage Read More …

Synhelion is developing technology to produce synthetic gas from air and sunlight. This can be processed into fuel that can be burned in standard engines Read More …

Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the launch of the $9 million American-Made Challenges: Solar Desalination Prize, a competition to accelerate the development of systems that use solar-thermal energy to produce clean water from very-high-salinity water. “The U.S. has the technical knowledge, vision, and talent it takes to develop solar-powered […]

  An optimal power system portfolio for the US state of California that would drive the world’s fifth largest economy towards greenhouse gas reduction goals for 2030 and then to zero carbon by 2040, includes 1GW of long duration energy storage, an analyst has highlighted. The roadmap includes around 25GW of new renewable generation, PV […]

ATA Insights invites you to attend the World Bank’s MENA CSP KIP capstone online conference: Concentrating Solar for Power and Heat (April 1-2, 2020) This final workshop of the World Bank’s Middle East & North Africa Concentration Solar Power Knowledge & Innovation Program will summarize the results of the Program’s activities over the past three years, […]

Spain’s solar generation from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) continues to increase as operating experience continues to increase efficiency Read More …

From CSP Focus: China Supcon Delingha 50MW CSP plant achieved record high performance in Feb. 2020 The monthly generation of China Supcon Delingha 50WM CSP tower plant reached record high at 17.1795 GWh in February 2020 (from Jan 26 to Feb 25), with the generation fulfillment rate of 102.9%. Supcon Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower […]

Source: Power-Technology Saudi Arabia has appointed the UK-based Solar Water PLC to build the first ‘carbon-neutral’ desalination plant in the city of Neom. The desalination plant will use concentrated solar power to heat a steel dome that boils the seawater. Works on the desalination plant are expected to start in February and be completed by […]

Advances in sky camera systems are set to drive up CSP efficiency in the coming years. In Europe, tests of WobaS All Sky Imager (ASI) technology at the 50 MW La Africana parabolic trough plant in Spain increased plant revenue by 2% over a two year period. Developed by Germany’s DLR Institute of Solar Research […]

Source: South Africa ITWeb Spanish-based technology and engineering company, Sener, together with its partners, has invested billions of rands in the Ilanga concentrated solar power 1 (CSP1) project,which provides solar-generated thermal electricity to around 100 000 South African households. Billed SA’s first 100% black-owned solar plant, the Ilanga CSP1 is located in Karoshoek, about 20km […]

Unlike in other countries, Chile’s open auctions have no subsidies or technology restrictions, pitting CSP against combined cycle gas turbine power plants Read More …

Building on R&D from IDEALAB, Bill Gates has now invested in his second CSP-based start-up after Malta, with Heliogen. Press Release; Singular scientific achievement takes place at Heliogen’s commercial facility in Lancaster, California PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Heliogen, the clean energy company that is transforming sunlight to create and replace fuels, today announced its launch and that […]

The goal of this RFI is to assess how we can accelerate the commercialization of sCO2 integration with CSP. Today, the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has issued a new request for information (RFI) about the integration of advanced supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles and thermal energy storage with concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP). This is […]

On November 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $128 million in funding for 75 projects in this program. Thirteen of these projects will focus on CSP research and development. Concentrating Solar Power Research and Development: $30 million for 13 research projects that enable CSP to provide power at any time and in any season, and […]

Source: Port Technology News The Port of Antwerp has inaugurated the first Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) in Europe as part of its efforts to make its operations more environmentally friendly. [Actually, there are many such projects in Europe: for example the many cities with solar district heat from Aalborg. CST (or CSH) provides just direct […]

Luneng’s 50 Megawatt (MW) tower CSP project with 12 hours of thermal energy storage (in molten salts) connected to the Chinese grid on September 20th Read More …

Supcon has completed its second CSP Tower project, the 50 MW Gonghe project at record speed – just under a year and a half Read More …

The 150 MW Noor III CSP tower in Morocco has exceeded performance targets on output and storage integration in the first few months of operation and financing costs for tower storage projects should fall in line with parabolic trough rates going forward, Xavier Lara, Senior Consultant at CSP engineering group Empresarios Agrupados (EA), told New […]

EPC Contract with Shanghai Electric to Develop 700 MW DEWA CSP Project Signed in China ACWA Power Apr 15, 2018 DEWA and ACWA Power, in collaboration with Shanghai Electric, will undertake the 700 MW CSP portion of the 950 MW solar project in Dubai. Together with 250 MW of PV, the 950 MW solar project […]

CSP Researchers: Up to $33M is available under the US Department of Energy SETO office to support the development of low-cost storage technologies for CSP that make solar-thermal energy available on demand. In addition, the office is seeking projects that lower CSP costs by supporting the development of advanced manufacturing processes and developing autonomous technologies. […]

Ilanga-1 has been certified to initiate commercial operation of its day-into-night solar CSP facility, now that construction, commissioning and testing is complete Press Release: Johannesburg (South Africa), 5 December 2018 – SENER, global engineering and technology group, together with its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners, Emvelo and Cobra, announces that the Ilanga-1 Concentrated Solar […]

. Prof. Manuel Blanco, European Research Area (ERA) Chair in Solar Thermal Technologies for the Eastern Mediterranean of the Energy Division of the Cyprus Institute’s Energy, Environment and Water Research Center (EEWRC) & Vice-Chair of SolarPACES announces the first-ever international conference on the role of CSP in climate mitigation through decarbonising the energy sector, to be […]

GlassPoint just signed an agreement with a second oil company operating in Oman to facilitate oil production by the use of 2 GWth solar-generated steam replacing fossil fuel-generated steam.  Read More …

Source: IEA: Renewables 2018 Market analysis and forecast from 2018 to 2023 With 1.9 GW coming online, China is expected to overtake the United States to have the second-largest CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) installed capacity by 2023, as global deployment nearly doubles over the next five years from today’s 5 GW. CSP is expected to grow […]

Source: China National Solar Thermal Energy Alliance The Delingha 50MW solar thermal power plant constructed by CGN New Energy, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corporation, in the northwestern province of Qinghai was put into operation on October 10th, 2018. As China’s first large commercial parabolic-trough concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, the operation of […]

Source: ARPA-E The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the selection of 10 projects as part of a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, DAYS; Duration Addition to electricitY Storage. Awardees will develop energy storage systems to provide reliable, affordable power to the electric grid for up to 100 hours, enhancing grid resilience and […]

US solar developer SolarReserve has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Australian firm Heliostat SA, to partner in manufacturing and assembling heliostats and heliostat components for the 150 MW Aurora CSP project that SolarReserve is developing in Port Augusta. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a thermal form of solar energy that includes integrated molten […]

Source: Center for Mediterranean Integration Lessons learned in Chile’s CSP program: A Word with Carlos Arenas Coronil, former Regional Secretary, Northern Chile Region CM. You have pushed for the development of concentrating solar power in Chile from the very beginning, why do you think CSP is a good choice for Chile? CA. I’ll give you […]

Source: SENER Johannesburg (South Africa), 02 August 2018 – The engineering and technology group SENER and ACCIONA Industrial have achieved another relevant milestone initiating the salt melting process at the Kathu Solar Park Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant. The molten salt will be used to store heat from the solar field that can later be […]

From CSPPlaza: China’s power grid system has connected a new solar thermal power project. On the evening of 30th June, China’s first commercial-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Delingha 50MW parabolic trough CSP station was successfully connected to the grid, achieving the milestone of grid connection. This means that the first […]

Source: RenewEconomy The world’s biggest solar tower power plant with molten salt storage has begun commissioning in Morocco, and is scheduled to begin production by October. The 150MW Noor Ouarzazate III solar receiver, with 7.5 hours of molten salt storage is only the second big scale project of its type, and trumps its predecessor in […]

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has announced that the deadline for the first batch of CSP demo projects can be extended to 2020, but with an electricity price reduction mechanism. On May 22, the NEA issued a notice, “Promoting the Construction of Solar Thermal Power Demonstration Projects”. The notice pointed out that the first batch […]

Source: Cerro Dominador May 18, 2018, Chile – Cerro Dominador, a Chilean company owned by investment funds managed by EIG Global Energy Partners (“EIG”), today announced the signing of the financing for its Solar Power Concentration (CSP) plant located in the Atacama desert, in Chile. This milestone will allow the company to complete the construction of […]

Source: CSPToday Design innovations and a favorable development framework should see Morocco hit its lowest prices for the hybrid PV-CSP Noor Midelt project and the country is joining global support schemes to diversify its funding supply, an official at the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen), said. Managed by Masen, the renewable program supported the […]

Source: RenewEconomy.com US solar company SolarReserve has sought approval to add a 70MW solar PV farm to the world leading solar tower and molten salt storage facility proposed for Port Augusta in South Australia. The plans for the additional solar PV are revealed in a development application to the South Australia Planning Commission, submitted in […]

Source: heliocsp.com Abengoa will provide the technology and develop the engineering to the LuNeng Haixi 50 MW solar thermal tower plant project, in the Qinghai province. The company will also be responsible for providing the technology and engineering for the Royal Tech Yumen project for a 50 MW solar thermal parabolic trough plant to be […]

International Conference presented innovative solutions in mirror cleaning, cooling systems, simulations Source: https://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/129321_en.html Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a promising electricity generation technology full of growing potential. However, traditional wet-cooled CSP plants often consume a large amount of water which especially causes a challenge in arid areas where water resources are scarce. The International Conference on […]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 1.4% in 2017, reaching a historic high of 32.5 gigatonnes (Gt), a resumption of growth after three years of global emissions remaining flat. The increase in CO2 emissions, however, was not universal. While most major economies saw a rise, some others experienced declines, including the United […]

Agreements opening the way for the construction of 27 renewable-energy independent power producer (IPP) projects, with a combined investment value of R56-billion and a combined capacity of 2 300 MW, were finally signed on Wednesday April 4, after a confidence-sapping delay of over two years. Read More …

Source: EurekAlert! The thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from power plants each year doesn’t have to go into the atmosphere. Researchers are optimistic that within the next decade we will be able to affordably capture CO2 waste and convert it into useful molecules for feedstock, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, or renewable fuels. On […]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law by US Democrats in response to the international financial meltdown of 2008, offered the biggest boost for renewables since President Carter first funded solar research in the ’70s. Today, in a repudiation of funding slashes sought by both the majority Republican Party and his own administration, […]

From CSPToday: Libya’s Misurata Free Zone (MFZ) has signed a memorandum of understanding with consultancy iQ Power to develop integrated CSP and PV projects with up to 300 MW total capacity. MFZ, the first free trade zone established on Libyan territory, has shown its desire to develop a solar energy industry, according to a iQ […]

  Via RenewEconomy: Oz Minerals signed a landmark deal with US-based SolarReserve, the developer of the 150MW solar tower and molten salt storage projects near Port Augusta, to share part of the cost of a new 270km high voltage transmission line. It is believed to be the first deal of its type where costs are […]

From HelioCSP: According to Solargis, China has good potential to develop CSP industry in terms of solar resources, but with strong geographic diversification. Abundant direct normal irradiance is found in the Western regions of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Gansu. Average annual DNI in these regions varies between 1700 and 2300 kWh/m2. For reliable […]