The Role of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plants for South Africa's Electricity Generation

Abstract

This article highlights the role of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants as a promising technology for sustainable energy provision and a possible solution for efficient greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. Furthermore, CSP offers megacities in sun-rich and arid regions of the world an alternative option to conventional power plants and reduces their fossil fuel dependency. In the presented study, CSP has been identified as a promising option for sustainable electricity generation and the reduction of GHG emissions for the municipal energy system of the megacity region of Gauteng in South Africa. This paper analyses the status of CSP in South Africa, particularly in view of the government’s current policy to implement higher levels of renewable electricity generation in the national electricity mix. Moreover, a methodology to calculate the electricity yield and the production costs of different CSP plant configurations is presented and is compared to those of other electricity generating technologies such as the renewable options: wind and solar PV, versus conventional technologies and the use of coal.