December 2018

Ilanga 1 (100 MWe, Parabolic Trough) was completed in South Africa. In China, Beijing Shouhang IHW Resources Saving (100 MW, CSP Tower) achieved commercial operation at the end of December, making it the second project under China’s CSP Program to be completed.

Additionally, eLLO, a 9 MWe CSP project located in France, entered the commissioning phase (More info here, in French).

In the meantime, the wait continues for the results of the Midelt CSP bid. Back in 2017, five consortia were preselected.

 October 2018

The first CSP project in China, Delingha CSP (50 MWe Parabolic Trough), started commercial operation in October 2018. The project, which started construction in 2015 and was first connected to the grid in June 2018, is the first of China’s National CSP project to come online.

In September 2016, China’s National Energy Administration selected 20 CSP demonstration projects totaling 1.35 GW and committed to a Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) of 1.15 RMB/kWh for plants that come online by the end of 2018. Read more about China’s CSP program here.

 June 2018

Noor Ouarzazate III (150 MW Tower with 7.5 hours of storage) started commissioning with the aim of starting commercial operation by the end of the year. With the completion of this plant, finalizes the construction of the Noor Ouarzazate Complex, which comprises Noor Ouarzazate I (Parabolic Trough, 160 MWe, 3 hours storage), Noor Ouarzazate II (Parabolic Trough, 200 MWe, 6 hours storage), Noor Ouarzazate III and Noor Ouarzazate IV (70 MWp PV). 

May 2018

Cerro Dominador project closed USD 758 million financing in May 2018, reigniting the construction of the project after four years of uncertainty. The project, located in Chile, is the largest in Latin America and comprises a 100 MW CSP Tower, plus 17.5 hours of thermal storage and a 110 MW PV. The project is expected to be operational in December 2019.

 April 2018

A 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for Redstone CSP project (South Africa) was signed in April 2018, after a two-year wait. The 100 MW molten salt Tower with 12 hours of storage will be able to “reliably deliver a stable electricity supply to more than 200,000 South African homes during peak demand periods, even well after the sun has set”, according to ACWA’s website.

 March 2018

In Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum broke ground on the fourth phase of the solar complex that bears his name. The fourth phase comprises 700 MWe of CSP, 600 MWe Parabolic trough with 11 hours of storage and 100 MWe Tower with 15 hours of storage. The project will come online in stages, with the first phase expected to be operational by the last quarter of 2019. At USD 73 per MWh, this project is lowest PPA ever awarded in a CSP project (Read more).

In South Africa, Xina CSP Plant was inaugurated. The plant 100 MWe Parabolic Trough plant includes 5.5 hours of thermal storage.