On March 6, a group of concentrating solar power companies announced the formation of a new industry group, the Concentrating Solar Power Alliance (CSPA).
Comprised of Abengoa, BrightSource Energy, and Torresol Energy, the CSPA aims to educate U.S. regulators, utilities and grid operators about the benefits of CSP. The group will promote policies favorable to increased deployment of CSP technology in the U.S.
Concentrating solar power (CSP) technology that uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s radiation on a large scale. The solar thermal energy is used to drive a conventional steam turbine. Proponents highlight the benefits of using a clean, renewable energy – rather than the traditional fossil fuels or nuclear power – to power utility-scale steam turbines.
“Concentrating solar power technology is the only renewable resource that is capable of harnessing the world’s most abundant fuel source — the sun — to produce reliable, cost-effective, and dispatchable electricity,” said Tex Wilkins, Executive Director of the CSP Alliance.
“We believe CSP, with the ability to dispatch electricity when it is needed, is critical in meeting the energy challenges facing the United States and the world,” he continued.
A CSP project by BrightSource Energy. Photo Credit: BrightSource Energy
The first CSP plant was built in California in the 1980s, but now there are over 500 MW of plants in the U.S., with over 1,300 MW of CSP plants in construction. But in light of the falling world prices of photovoltaics, CSP is a more expensive way to provide power than PV.
However, the Alliance is confident that CSP adoption will grow; the group cited an International Energy Agency study that claimed over ten percent of global electricity demand could be fulfilled by CSP by 2050 – but only with the right amount of investment and appropriate government policies.
The CSPA also notedthe job creation benefits of advancing the technology, citing a DOE study that found that a 100 MW CSP plant creates more than $600 million to gross state output, ten times that of a combined cycle fossil plant.
Until 2011, CSPA Executive Director Tex Wilkins was key in developing the CSP division of the Department of Energy, and also played a role in the Solar Industrial and Solar Buildings Programs at the DOE.
The CSPA will work with the newly-created World Solar Thermal Electricity Association (STELAWorld), a group that will work with international agencies to assist policy-makers and energy investors to access information on solar thermal electricity development.
