EU report shows potential for CSP

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg, September 5, 2007. The European Commission has funded Euro 25 million for research into concentrating solar power in recent years, and the potential contribution of CSP “has still to be exploited.”

“A wider exploitation of renewable energy sources is a key priority for the European Union,” explains ‘Solar Power Concentrating: From Research to Implementation.’ “Renewable energy sources are an integral part of the new energy policy for Europe; implementation of the existing directives on green electricity and on biofuels should allow the EU to reach ambitious targets for the share of renewables.”

The EU intends to achieve a 20% share of renewables in its overall energy consumption by 2020, and CSP is “a clean energy that can help the EU to meet its 20% target for renewable energies and its broader energy goals.” CSP technologies could make a “significant contribution to developing a more sustainable energy system,” especially in areas which receive a high level of solar radiation such as southern Europe and in EU partner countries such as North Africa.

“It is for such reasons that the EU has already supported research into CSP technologies for many years and with significant results - an effort that will continue into the future,” it explains. Under FP5 and FP6 (5th and 6th EU Research Framework Programmes), the EU contributed Euro 25 million to research projects working to develop CSP technologies.

That contribution leveraged ten-fold for private investment, and EU-funded projects “constitute an important basis for further action by the EC and EU member states,” it explains. “The evaluation of their results and their potential to substitute greenhouse gas-emitting electricity production will allow for a proper assessment of the benefits of CSP technology.”

The first commercial CSP plants started in California in the mid-1980s, with 354 MW of installed capacity. Since then, a variety of technological approaches have been developed for different market segments and which are at different levels of maturity, including parabolic troughs, solar towers and dish/engine systems which vary according to the concentration devices, energy conversion methods, storage options and other design variables.

Several projects supported by Euro 10 million in EU funding have studied CSP topics such as components, storage, solar-hybrid co-generation, and solar chemistry including hydrogen production “but it is also important to show that CSP technologies are not just something confined to the science laboratory, but something efficient and cost-effective enough to be put to use on a much larger, industrial or commercial scale,” the report says. “This is why EU-funded research projects have been geared to producing results that enable solar power to be scaled up in its application.”

“The EU will continue to promote research into solar power in the years ahead, reflecting the strong interest in this technology,” it adds. Solar research will be promoted within the FP7 that runs until 2013 with Euro 50 billion in four main components.

The report explains the progress of numerous demonstration projects, including the 11 MW PS10 facility in southern Spain and the 50 MW ANDASOL parabolic trough plant with thermal storage, with details on costs and challenges remaining.

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