Concentrated solar power is an old technology making a comeback. Here’s how it works

There was a time, not long ago, when the future of electricity generation looked something like the opening scene of Blade Runner 2049, with endless arrays of mirrors in concentric circles. Concentrated solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to focus heat from the Sun to drive a steam turbine and generate electricity. While CSP was once …

Concentrated Solar Power Plants with Molten Salt Storage: Economic Aspects and Perspectives in the European Union

Concentrated solar power plants belong to the category of clean sources of renewable energy. The paper discusses the possibilities for the use of molten salts as storage in modern CSP plants. Besides increasing efficiency, it may also shift their area of application: thanks to increased controllability, they may now be used not only to cover …

Concentrated Solar Power Project Tenders Last Week (Mar.25-31) in China

EPC Tender-POWERCHINA Tuokexun 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Project On March 27, POWERCHINA Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. conducted a public bidding for its 100MW CSP EPC project of POWERCHINA Tuokexun 100 MW CSP + 900 MW PV Project. Project duration: 600 days. The deadline for submission of tender documents is 10:00 a.m. on April 18, …

Vast Solar’s fix for tank leaks that stymied the first Tower Concentrated Solar Power

A thermal storage tank failure ended Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) development in the US. At the world’s first utility-scale Tower CSP project with storage, the molten salt thermal energy storage tank sprang a leak. SolarReserve’s Crescent Dunes 110 MW project was the only Tower CSP with thermal energy storage among the first five commercial CSP …

Concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies: Status and analysis

Concentrated solar power (CSP) technology is a promising renewable energy technology worldwide. However, many challenges facing this technology nowadays. These challenges are mentioned in this review study. For the first time, this work summarized and compared around 143 CSP projects worldwide in terms of status, capacity, concentrator technologies, land use factor, efficiency, country and many …

CSIRO’s Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap: Concentrated Solar Power lowest cost

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 …

One step closer towards Australia’s first commercial scale concentrated solar power plant

On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it has approved $65 million in funding to Vast Solar to construct VS1, a first-of-a-kind 30 MW / 288 MWh concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Port Augusta, South Australia. ARENA’s funding for VS1 is conditional upon the project reaching financial …

Renewable energy storage must expand massively and diversify if Australia is to achieve net zero by 2050

Renewable energy storage must undergo massive growth if Australia is to achieve net zero by 2050. A new report from the CSIRO and supported by ARENA funding, says between 10 to 14 times more storage could be needed in the coming decades to support the National Electricity Market (NEM). The Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap forecasts …

Special Issue «Latest Trends in Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) Systems»

Print Special Issue Flyer Special Issue Editors Special Issue Information Keywords Published Papers A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section «A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems«. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2023 Special Issue Editors Dr. Kypros Milidonis E-Mail WebsiteGuest Editor Energy, Environment and Water Research Center …

Heliogen Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial and Operational Results

Heliogen, Inc. (“Heliogen”) (NYSE: HLGN), a leading provider of AI-enabled concentrating solar energy technology, today provided its fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial and operational results. Recent Highlights Completed the preliminary design and secured a site for the “Proxima” green hydrogen project in Lancaster, CA Achieved successful accumulation of over 125 hours of operational …