How much does a solar power plant cost?

THE LEVELISED COST OF ELECTRICITY FROM CSP Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants are capital intensive, but have virtually zero fuel costs. Parabolic trough plant without thermal energy storage have capital costs as low as USD 4 600/kW, but low capacity factors of between 0.2 and 0.25.

What is concentrating solar power (CSP)?

C oncentrating solar power (CSP) is a power generation technology that uses mirrors or lenses4 to concentrate the sun’s rays and, in most of today’s CSP systems, to heat a fluid and produce steam. The steam drives a turbine and generates power in the same way as conventional power plants.

Can concentrating solar power be integrated with thermal energy storage?

Concentrating solar power (CSP), when integrated with thermal energy storage (TES), can address both intermittency and storage needs by providing dispatchable renewable electricity.

How does concentrated solar power work?

Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat (solar thermal energy), which drives a heat engine (usually a steam turbine) connected to an electrical power generator or powers a thermochemical reaction. As of 2021, global installed capacity of concentrated solar power stood at 6.8 GW.

What is concentrated solar technology?

Concentrated-solar technology systems use mirrors or lenses with tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight onto a small area. The concentrated light is then used as heat or as a heat source for a conventional power plant (solar thermoelectricity).

How much electricity does a CSP plant cost?

Global weighted average electricity capacity factors for CSP plants rose 66 % from 2011 to 2021. Global weighted average LCoE for CSP fell 68 % from $0.31/kWh in 2010 to $0.10/kWh in 2022. Capital costs for CSP fell 50 % in the last decade to $3000–11000/kW. Adding 6–15 h of thermal storage at $20–60/kW is now considered economical.