Recent progress in China’s first commercial-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project and the soon-to-be-announced feed-in-tariffs have set the industry’s wheels in motion.
Recent progress in China’s first commercial-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project and the soon-to-be-announced feed-in-tariffs have set the industry’s wheels in motion. But is China ready to meet its own CSP targets?
By Heba Hashem
High DNI levels, vast deserts and low-cost components make China an attractive destination for CSP development. An area like the Qinghai province in the western part of China, for example, receives around 2,100 kWh/m²/year of rich solar irradiation, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
First commercial project
Qinghai is in fact home to the China’s first commercial-scale CSP project, which recently moved into construction. The 50 MW Qinghai Delingha parabolic trough plant is being funded with a US$150 million loan from ADB, US$96.68 million from the project developer China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) as equity contribution, and US$75.58 million from China-Exim Bank as a domestic loan.
While ADB’s loan will be used for the procurement of equipment and materials, among other costs, the equity contribution and domestic loan will finance civil works, engineering services, land acquisition and other costs not funded by ADB.
