Concentrating solar power companies, Abengoa, BrightSource Energy, and Torresol Energy announced the formation of the Concentrating Solar Power Alliance (CSPA). Market research group SBI Energy predicts a rise in the CSP market for 2012 and with the PV industry in such turmoil, there is a hole just waiting to be filled.
SBI Energy wrote that utility-scale CSP was around 2GW at the close of 2011, with approximately another 2500 to 3500MW to become operational in 2012. It estimates the cost of installed CSP at the end of 2011 to be in the region of US$9.5 billion.
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The US market currently has the largest volume of the world’s largest CSP projects under construction – possibly because it can be easily integrated with traditional fossil fuel plants. CSPA will be promoting the increased acceptance, adoption and implementation of CSP plants to US regulators, utilities and grid operators.
The formation of the CSP Alliance builds on the momentum following the creation of the World Solar Thermal Electricity Association (STELAWorld), a consortium of industry associations representing the solar thermal electricity industry in Europe, Australia and South Africa. While independent of STELAWorld, the CSP Alliance will work closely with these associations to further advance the solar thermal industry in the US and abroad.
