Reported from CSPPLAZA: Simon Benmarraze, Senior Representative of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), delivered a keynote speech entitled "IRENA Insights: Global outlook on the development and competitiveness of the CSP sector " at the 6th China International CSP Conference and CSPPLAZA Annual Conference.

Renewable energy can deliver a transition on a global scale 

The global energy transition makes economic sense. Firstly, energy transition can promote the growth of global GDP. IRENA predicts that global GDP will grow by 1% by 2050, which translates into a specific figure of $520 billion. Secondly, energy transition can bring good health, environment and climate. IRENA calculations show that this low-carbon transformation can save about five times the cost of decarbonization.

 According to the Emap 2050 released by IRENA, by 2050, the proportion of renewable energy power electricity will be 86% and that of heating will exceed 77%, which will greatly reduce energy consumption. IRENA believes that the current technological level can support the global transition of new energy sources. However, the implementation of new energy transition should vary from region to region

CSP will occupy an important position in the energy market

 According to the IRENA report 《Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018》, The global weighted average LCOE concentrating solar power in 2018 was USD 0.185/kWh,26% lower than in 2017 and 46% lower than in 2010. The 26% decline in the global weighted average LCOE in 2018 compared to that of 2017 has been driven by the emergence of China as an important player in supply chains and project development.

 Simon Benmarraze stressed that CSP, as part of the future energy, is very important for the smooth transition of new energy sources. In the next few years, CSP will occupy an important position in the energy market, and its cost competitiveness will be better than traditional fossil energy.

 Two major factors drive down the cost of CSP generation

 Simon Benmarraze summarized the main reasons for the significant decrease in the cost of CSP generation since 2010-2018. There are two main aspects:

1. Lower total installed costs and higher capacity factors are driving the decline in the cost of electricity from CSP.  Projects can achieve the lowest LCOE by including storage to improve the overall utilisation of the power block and associated investments. The optimal level of storage varies depending on the resource and the costs, but is typically in the range of 7–10 hours. 

   
   

2. Capacity factors for new CSP plants increased between 2012 and 2018, with storage capacities growing and projects increasingly being developed in areas with better solar resources. New CSP projects commissioned in 2018 have estimated capacity factors ranging from 31% to 64%.

   
   

Please watch the video to get more details about the wonderful speech: