China required from the first demonstration phase that each CSP project must include thermal energy storage, marking the first recognition globally of the value of the low cost and longevity of thermal energy storage. As a power station storing solar energy thermally, CSP operates like a gas plant to supply grid services like rolling reserves.
Compared to major economies like the US, China has relatively little natural gas to meet these needs. Despite being the world’s leading battery producer, China set the requirement to include thermal storage starting with its initial demonstration program. This marked a departure from the earlier markets. Spain did not require storage.
Three of these were Tower, and all at 50 MW: LuNeng Haixi and Power China Qinghai Gonghe in Qinghai, and in Xinjiang, CEEC/ Hami which pioneered another SolarPACES Innovation Award-winner, the Stellio heliostat. The fourth was Lanzhou’s 50 MW Fresnel at Daching.
To activate the undeveloped pilot projects, the National Energy Administration subsequently offered a slightly lower tariff if any could connect to the grid by 2021, to encourage confident startups like Cosin and Shouhang that emerged as major Tower CSP developers in China, to grab some of these lost opportunities.