According to new a report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity reached 4.95 GW at the end of 2017. 2017 was the slowest year for the industry since 2008, with only 100 MW added during the year (100 MW Xina plant in Pofadder in South Africa), compared to the 3.7 GW added between 2010 and 2014.
Spain (2.31 GW) and the United States (1.76 GW) account for approximately 80% of the global installed capacity and only a few countries have more than 100 MW so far: South Africa (300 MW), India (229 MW), Morocco (180 MW) and the United Arab Emirates (100 MW).
However, this capacity is expected to increase significantly in the next decade since China plans to add 5 GW by 2020. Several projects are on track and some will come onstream in 2018, including the 200 MW Noor-2 and the 150 MW Noor-3 projects in Morocco and the 100 MW Shouhang project in China. The 700 MW fourth phase of Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park broke ground earlier in 2018 and the 150 MW Aurora project in Australia is about to begin construction in 2018.