As China prepared to implement its first-ever concentrated solar power (CSP) project, it wanted to learn from the experiences of other states with existing CSP projects. To that end, China approached the South-South Facility at the World Bank Institute to support a study tour to Egypt and Morocco—two countries with CSP projects that the World Bank had successfully financed in the past. The experience exchange with policymakers and practitioners in Egypt and Morocco would help the Chinese better understand technical, environmental, and policy issues faced during the development of similar projects and how they were addressed. These lessons would help China better prepare for and implement the Bank-financed pilot project, as well as formulate the necessary policies to scale up its solar power project.

After the Chinese delegation visited Morocco’s and Egypt’s solar project sites and met with key representatives involved in the work, the members developed a better knowledge and understanding of this type of project’s physical construction and operation. They also learned that CSP is a stable power source, and that grid companies tend to accept electricity from solar power without the difficulties faced by other renewable energy sources. Representatives from various ministries and policy research institutes also learned how their counterparts in Egypt and Morocco developed the appropriate legal and policy frameworks and incentives to support the scale-up of their solar efforts.

 

 

After several years of very rapid development in renewable energy, especially wind and photovoltaic (PV) energy, China decided to pilot concentrated solar power (CSP) in its poor north-western provinces. CSP is a major renewable resource; compared to PV and wind, it has a more promising future because it is easier to integrate into the electrical grid. There are two reasons: its technical characteristics are similar to steam cycle plants, and with the decreasing cost of storage it could become, like geothermal energy, a 24/7 renewable energy option.

 

Depending on the success of the pilot projects, China envisages developing 1000 MW CSP projects by 2015. And by 2020, the total installed capacity of CSP would reach 3000 MW. 

 

The proposed project was the first of its kind in China. The experience exchange with policymakers and practitioners in Morocco and Egypt would help Chinese parties to better understand technical, environmental, and policy issues faced in developing similar projects. These lessons would help China better prepare for and implement the Bank-financed pilot project, helping it to formulate the necessary policies to scale up its solar power project.