Concentrated solar thermal (CST) is a solar energy technology that uses sunlight to generate heat.
Spain is the world leader in the use of CST to produce electricity, with around 2.3 GW in operation, followed by the United States with around 1.7 GW in operation.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it has approved $65 million in funding to Vast Solar to construct VS1, a first-of-a-kind 30 MW / 288 MWh concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Port Augusta, South Australia.
ARENA’s funding for VS1 is conditional upon the project reaching financial close, which is targeted to occur in late 2023. VS1 is expected to take two years to build with commercial operations commencing late 2025.
CSP uses mirrors to concentrate and capture heat from the sun in solar receivers, with high temperature heat transferred via sodium and stored in molten salt. The stored heat can then be used to heat water to create steam to power a turbine and produce electricity, or the heat can also be used directly to decarbonise some industrial processes.
One of the benefits of CSP is that the captured heat can be stored cost-effectively for long periods with little loss of energy. This means that CSP can be used to generate electricity or provide heat on demand, including overnight.
Vast's modular CSP v3.0 technology has been proven at its 1.1 MW, grid-synchronised demonstration project in Australia and will be used in a growing pipeline of zero-carbon power projects globally.
