Global Potential of Concentrating Solar Power

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of the technical potential of concentrating solar power (CSP) on a global scale elaborated within the European project REACCESS. The analysis is based on the annual direct normal irradiation data (DNI) provided by NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy program (SSE) Version 6.0. The solar resource data has been uploaded to a geographic information system and processed together with spatial data on land use, topography, hydrology, geomorphology, infrastructure, protected areas etc. excluding sites that are not technically feasible for the construction of concentrating solar power plants. The result yields a global map of DNI on land area that is potentially suited for the placement of CSP plants. This map has been analyzed statistically using a simple CSP performance model that takes contemporary parabolic trough technology as reference to determine the potential of solar electricity generation for different classes of annual DNI intensity ranging from 2000 to 2800 kWh/m²/y. The paper describes the assessment methodology and the technical and economic CSP model, and shows the results of this analysis for the different world regions.