『Abstract
Study of low-carbon and pollution renewable alternatives for
China revealed that concentrating solar thermal (CST) electric
power generation was underemphasized in China's renewable energy
plan. The analysis shows the competitive viability of CST: (1)
China has the key prerequisites to make CST power generation economical
including high-quality insolation and appropriate land, (2) CST's
proven history, scale, and dispatchability makes it a good utility-scale
power option, especially in the economically underdeveloped Western
regions, (3) while CST power is currently more expensive than
coal-fired electricity on a nominal basis, when costs of externalities
are accounted for, CST, at 11.4 US cents/kWh, can become 57％ cheaper
than scrubbed coal and 29％ cheaper than nuclear power, (4) CST
power continues dropping in cost due to economies of scale and
technological improvements and can potentially realize a levelized
electricity cost of around 4 cents/kWh within ten years, (5) it
would significantly rise in competitiveness if and when China
completes the extensive smart grid for connecting its solar-abundant
western regions with the high-demand eastern regions, (6) CST
has the potential to positively impact Western China's economy,
but proper policy and deal structure must be in place to ensure
that the local community shares the benefit.
Keywords: Concentrating solar thermal power; Solar power; China
energy』
1. Introduction
1.1. China's 2020 goal - “quadrupling GDP while only doubling
energy consumption”
1.2. China's renewable energy focus - not enough on solar
2. CST technology overview and assessment
2.1. Solar thermal electric systems - concentrating solar
thermal
2.2. Comparison of CST systems
3. Assessment of potential of CST use in china
3.1. Geographic assessment
3.1.1. Solar resource assessment
3.1.2. Land assessment
3.1.3. Water assessment
3.2. Transmission and power grid assessment
4. Economic assessment
4.1. Comparison of generated electricity costs with other
generation methods, considering both nominal and true (including
externalities cost)
4.2. Risks to be addressed and the effect of experience on CST
future cost, and competitiveness
5. Vision of reducing regional disparity
6. Conclusions
References