Scope of Concentrated Solar Power Technology in Pakistan

Concentrating solar power plants produce electric power by converting the sun's energy into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations. The heat is then channelled through a conventional generator. The plants consist of two parts: one that collects solar energy and converts it to heat, and another that converts heat energy to electricity. This is combinely called solar thermal electric power plant. Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, including parabolic troughs, power towers, and dish/engines, have the potential to provide the world with tens of thousands of megawatts of clean, renewable, cost-competitive power beginning later this decade. These technologies can be used to generate electricity for a variety of applications, ranging from remote power systems as small as a few kilowatts (kW) up to grid-connected applications of 200-350 megawatts (MW) or more. A concentrating solar power system that produces 350 MW of electricity displaces the energy equivalent of 2.3 million barrels of oil. Developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America—where half the populations currently without electricity and sunlight is usually abundant—represent the biggest and fastest growing market for power producing technologies. A number of projects are being developed in India, Egypt, Morocco, and Mexico. The benefits from CSP technology from economical point of view is it reduce consumption of fossil fuels, from environmental point of view it reduces air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions and it produces clean power. CSP technology is ideally suited for multi-megawatt central power plants. It is a proven technology with 354 MW operating successfully in California for the past 25 years. And rapidly deployed because it uses conventional items such as glass, steel, gears, turbines, etc.