ABSTRACT
Solar Thermal Electricity, also known as Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, is produced using concentrating solar radiation technologies. It provides clean and reliable power in units ranging from 10kW to 300MW. The first commercial solar thermal power plants were built in the 1980s and in 2009 more than 600MW are commercially operated in the world. In Europe around 1,700MW of solar thermal power plants are either recently operating or under construction. The installed capacity in Europe is expected to be of 2GW by 2012 and potentially 30GW by 2020. The technical potential in Europe in the long run can be estimated at least at 20 times that figure within reasonable generation costs. At different stages of technical development, there are four main CSP technologies to produce solar thermal electricity: parabolic trough plants, central receiver plants, Dish-Stirling systems and linear Fresnel systems. Each technology will progress thanks to a favourable policy framework and to its capacity to reduce generation costs and satisfy the specific needs of the power market.
