CSP Can Supply 25% of Global Power by 2050 – Report

With advanced industry development and high levels of energy efficiency, concentrated solar power (CSP) could meet up to 7% of the world’s power needs by 2030 and fully one quarter by 2050, according to a new joint report by Greenpeace International, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) and IEA SolarPACES.

"Global Concentrating Solar Power Outlook 2009" finds that short-term CSP projects under construction in Spain will account for 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power by about 2011. By 2017, additional projects in the U.S. and Spain are expected to add up to 17,000 MW.

But the numbers begin to grow exponentially in the long-term. Even with moderate assumptions for market growth, the report projects annual deployments of 41 gigawatts (GW) in 2050 and combined global capacity at more than 830 GW.

The report states that government investments of $14.4 billion in 2010–increasing to about $128 billion in 2050–could create about 200,000 solar jobs by 2020 and well over 1 million jobs by 2050.

This is the 3rd joint report by the groups. They said that CSP has now "taken off" and is about to step out of the shadow of other renewable technologies to establish itself as the third biggest player in the sustainable power generation industry.

Greenpeace and the European Renewable Industry Council developed a joint global vision–the Energy [R]evolution scenario–which provides a practical blueprint for rapidly cutting energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to help ensure that greenhouse gas emissions peak and then fall by 2015. The blueprint asserts that this can be achieved while ensuring economies in China, India and other developing nations have access to the energy that they need in order to develop. CSP plays an important role in the plan.

Arizona Public Service (APS) recently announced plans to purchase electricity from two planned CSP plants. One will be owned by Starwood Energy Group and the other by Spanish firm Abengoa (ABG.MC).

A PDF of the CSP report is available at the link below.