EU support for CSP

Funding research

Aerial view of the construction of the solar thermal power plant PS 10 Image courtesy of the PS10 project

The EU has been supporting the CSP sector for more than 10 years. Since 1994 (Fourth Framework Programme) the EU has spent some EUR 29 million for the development and implementation of CSP technologies. An additional 15 million EUR has been spent on supporting three major full-scale megawatt (MW)-size demonstration projects under the Fifth Framework Programme (1998-2002):

  • PS10: an 11 MW solar thermal power plant in southern Spain;
  • Andasol: 50 MW parabolic trough plant with thermal storage;
  • SOLAR TRES: 15MW solar tower with molten salt storage

This contribution has had a multiplying effect by leveraging a large amount of private investment, at a rate of about EUR 10 million for each project funded by the EC.

The research projects that benefited from EU funding focused on:

  • validating the full-scale applications of different technological approaches and their economical viability (i.e. solar towers, parabolic troughs, dish/engine systems);
  • raising operability and reducing costs of CSP, through designing and testing new components for solar dishes and developing innovative storage media (i.e. large insulated tanks filled with molten salt);
  • researching hybrid solar technologies;
  • production of hydrogen using CSP;
  • supporting horizontal activities for strengthening the European infrastructure for solar science.

Currently, CSP research is one of the priorities of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7, 2007-2013). The European Commission will continue to support the scaling up of promising CSP technologies from research, development and demonstration scale to a pre-commercial feasibility phase in the multi-MW range (i.e. 25 MW for each project is assumed).

Current funding opportunities

For more information on current open topics in the area of CSP please click here.

Research projects

Results

Results and descriptions of EU funded research projects on Concentrated Solar Power can be found here:

Examples of EU funded projects

MED-CSD – Combined solar power and desalination plants: technico-economic potential in Mediterranean partner countries

This innovative research project aims at exploring the feasibility of producing electricity and drinking water at the same time by making use of the sun’s energy. To this end, the project is assessing the technical-economic potential of Concentrated Solar Power for electricity production and desalination in the Mediterranean region, where developing economies are in need of constantly increasing amounts of energy and water.

This project, funded under FP7, started in June 2008 and will run for the next 2 years. The EC contribution covers the total eligible costs of around EUR 1 million. A multidisciplinary team of 12 partners coming from 9 countries is undertaking the research activities.

For more information, please visit the project's website.

 

Hydrosol – Solar Hydrogen via Water Splitting in Advanced Monolithic Reactors for Future Solar Power Plants

The overall objective of this project has been to investigate the possibility of making hydrogen from two renewable resources: water and sunlight. Currently, the most feasible methods of hydrogen production are linked with emissions to the atmosphere that negatively impact air quality and contribute to climate change. Under these conditions, hydrogen has little advantage over conventional fossil fuels.

The Hydrosol project has turned things around. This cutting-edge research, coordinated by the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), has culminated in the development of a technologically advanced reactor, which can turn ordinary water and sunlight into hydrogen, a more viable form of energy.

The concept is simple. Concentrated solar radiation is used to heat water; the resulting steam traverses a thermo-chemical reactor, where hydrogen and oxygen are separated at high temperature by oxidation reduction.

The project carried out by a small team of five experts coming from four Member States. It has received an EC contribution of around EUR 1 million under the Fifth Framework Programme. Given its success, Hydrosol was awarded the European Descartes Prize for Research in 2007. Moreover, the European Commission has awarded new funds in the context of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to the same team of researchers for continuing their cutting researches (Hydrosol II).

For more information please visit the project website.

 

10 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant for Southern Spain

Image courtesy of PS 10

The overall goal of the project was to demonstrate the feasibility of scaling up CSP technologies and providing as much electricity as a conventional power plant. The project was very successful, culminating in the construction of a power plant in the southern Spain capable of generating up to 11MW of electricity, enough to power up to 6 000 homes. The plant has been operating commercially since June 2007 and is among Europe's largest electricity producing solar facilities. It features a solar central tower surrounded by hundreds of mirrors (heliostats) which track the sun and direct its rays to a heat exchanger (receiver) at the top of the tower. The receiver converts concentrated solar energy from the heliostats into steam, which is stored in tanks and used to drive turbines that will produce the electricity.

Partly financed with EU funds, the entire project has a total investment volume of EUR 35 million of which the EU contributed € 5 million.

The project, carried out by a small team of four participants coming from Spain and Germany, started in June 2004. For more information please see the project's final technical report.

 

Working together

An important effect of EU financing is the fact that research projects bring together different organisations from across Europe and beyond that are active in the same scientific area. By working together in projects they exchange experience, create links and sometimes continue cooperation even after a project has finished. In this way they contribute to the creation of a European Research Area.

An important initiative to bring together relevant actors is the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan). It aims to strengthen industrial energy research and innovation by aligning the efforts of the EU, its Member States and industry. In the area of solar technologies (both Concentrated Solar Power as well as Photovoltaics) it aims at stimulating stakeholder cooperation by creating a Solar European Industrial Initiative. This initiative will allow the European industry, in collaboration with the research community, to make the collective investments needed to accelerate technological progress.

In synergy with the Solar European Initiative, the Mediterranean Solar Plan proposed by the French Presidency and endorsed by the Council will contribute to actively supporting the CSP sector.

As energy challenges are global, cooperation goes beyond the borders of the EU. Cooperation takes place at a bilateral level between the EU and partner countries and in a multilateral framework (through the IEA or other multilateral initiatives). More information on international cooperation between the EU and other countries/regions in energy research is available in the International cooperation section of this website.

Read more about how CSP works and what are its prospects for the future.

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