With its technical advantage of "molten salt energy storage synchronous power generation", photothermal power generation has both peak power supply and long-term energy storage capacity, and can meet the needs of power grid for safety, flexibility and green at the same time, it is an important preferred scheme to promote the high proportion of new energy consumption. Across the vast Gobi Desert in western China, an energy transition powered by sunlight is gathering momentum.
Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the “Several Opinions on Promoting the Large-Scale Development of Concentrated Solar Power” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”). These Opinions carry far-reaching strategic significance. They are not only aimed at fostering emerging industries, but also at safeguarding national energy security and building a new type of power system. The Opinions propose that by 2030, China aims to achieve a total installed capacity of approximately 15 million kilowatts for concentrating solar power (CSP) generation, with levelized costs of electricity broadly on par with coal-fired power. The goal is to attain world-leading, fully domestically controlled and independently managed technology; to establish a self-sustaining, market-driven, and industrialized CSP industry; and to make CSP an emerging sector within the new energy landscape that enjoys international competitive advantage.
To achieve this goal, we need to focus on cost optimization and application expansion. On the one hand, by establishing a sound market mechanism to highlight the peak-shaving and energy-storage value of concentrated solar power (CSP), and leveraging technological innovation, economies of scale, and supply-chain synergy, we can drive down costs on a sustained basis. On the other hand, the “photothermal” model is continuously empowering a diversified application ecosystem, expanding from supporting large-scale wind and solar power bases to areas such as zero-carbon industrial parks, industrial steam supply, and clean heating. Under the guidance of national policies, concentrating solar power is emerging as a key driver in building a new energy system, injecting high-quality, reliable, and green energy into the transition of the energy mix.
Source: Xinhua