Concentrated Solar Power Boasts Constantly Improving Levelized Cost of Energy

Not to say “I told you so,” but for several years I’ve been predicting a steep decline in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) coming from concentrated solar power (CSP).  Now, that prediction is quite definitely coming true.

According to the article linked above, “When the SunShot program was planned in 2010, CSP was 21 cents a kilowatt hour without subsidies. Now, SunShot Initiative CSP Director Dr. Pitchumani tells CSP Today, they are getting reports of prices of as low as 13 cents a kilowatt hour.”

Can it fall further?  Absolutely.  Much further.

New materials that enable higher temperatures and better efficiencies, cooling without water, and manufacturing at high scale will bring the cost of CSP down much further.  Here’s a whole industry that never received (until now) the attention paid to PV and wind.  Now that the world has begun to see the merits, I expect a robust future.

The end of coal-fired power plants, an event that will be celebrated by every clear-thinking person on planet Earth, is definitely in sight.