China looks to US for solar thermal development

China Solar Development

One of the very few good things to come out of the furore surrounding the UN climate summit in Copenhagen was the pledge from China, the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases (GHGs), to severely cut its carbon emissions.

Even though there have been rumours China have opted to postpone its cut backs after the Copenhagen conference descended into farce, over the weekend news from Beijing pointed towards plans that would help to decrease China's heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil.

It has been announced that US-based solar power company eSolar Inc. will provide Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. with the technology and information needed to construct solar thermal power plants capable of generating more than 2,000MW of electricity.

$5 billion investment

Government goals issued in 2005 call for at least 15 percent of China's power to come from wind, solar and hydro-power by 2020, up from 9 percent now. Officials say that this target may be raised to 20 percent because the industry is developing so quickly.

MSNBC reports that the $5 billion investment would be the largest such project in China, though the companies didn't say who would be investing how much.

Deborah Seligsohn, director of the China climate program for the US-based World Resources Institute described the development as a "huge jump" for China considering the deal would mean a number of commercial plants being built.

For some time the communist state has been a leader in solar panel manufacturing due to its ability to produce solar products far cheaper than foreign competitors, with some Chinese companies even opening manufacturing plants in the US in order to bring the competition to America's doorstep.

China's solar energy potential

However, in this rather ironic turnaround US firms are now looking to cash in on China's lucrative solar energy market potential. The government is realising how important it is to find alternatives to coal and by looking to the more experienced utilities from states such as California, China hope to drive forward innovation in the solar sector.

The eSolar deal is for concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) - which essentially involves mirrors focusing the sun's rays onto a tower to heat water thus creating steam to power a generator.

But there are still plans to develop more traditional solar fields in China because even though the country is moving much faster than the US in solar power development, they will need both systems to help meet tough emissions targets.

Strict global agreements

The importing of oil and gas from overseas is seen as an unnecessary weakness by the communist government in place, and legislative changes made in late 2009 mean that Chinese utilities will now be required to buy all the power produced by wind farms and other renewable sources.

Because China is still regarded as a "developing" country it is not bound by more strict global agreements on carbon cutting. Nonetheless the government has promised to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide for each unit of economic output by 40 percent to 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

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