News and events

On 19 May 2020, the European Commission published a consultation open to the whole R&I community to help shaping the main features of a dedicated Green Deal Call under Horizon 2020.

Fighting climate change and making Europe climate-neutral by 2050 is one of the main priorities of the European Commission and endorsed by the European Council in December 2019. In support of this priority, the Commission is reinforcing Green Deal-related research and innovation with a dedicated call for proposals under Horizon 2020.

All concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies use a mirror configuration to concentrate the sun’s light energy onto a receiver and convert it into heat. The heat can then be used to create steam to drive a turbine to produce electrical power or used as industrial process heat.

Concentrating solar power plants can integrate thermal energy storage systems to use to generate electricity during cloudy periods or for hours after sunset or before sunrise.This ability to store solar energy makes concentrating solar power a flexible and dispatchable source of renewable energy.

CSP can deliver greater grid stability than photovoltaics, but needs better recognition of its value to be competitive.

Concentrated solar power's failure to gain momentum in U.S. markets is a signal that traditional resource valuations may be slowing the energy transition, a February CSP conference made clear.