Global Concentrating Solar Power Market Outlook, 2031

The global Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) market is undergoing a strategic resurgence, transitioning from a policy-dependent niche technology to a critical enabler of grid stability and industrial decarbonisation. CSP's defining advantage cost-effective long-duration thermal energy storage (TES) positions it as the indispensable complement to variable renewable energy sources in high-penetration grids. The global cumulative installed CSP capacity reached 8,800.2 MW in 2026, with parabolic trough technology accounting for approximately 79.97% of installations in major international markets. The market's fundamental shift is rooted in the recognition that lithium-ion batteries excel at four-hour discharge but become uneconomic beyond eight hours, leaving a gap that molten-salt CSP supplies at lower lifetime cost. CSP turbines can start in under ten minutes, offering inertia and frequency response without cycle-life degradation, and capacity-credit frameworks now assign CSP up to 85% of nameplate rating in Spain, South Africa, and Chile, compared with 30–50% for photovoltaic-battery hybrids. The proportion of CSP configurations with storage duration exceeding 12 hours increased from less than 30% in 2020 to 52% in 2025. Capital markets have started to factor lower revenue volatility into weighted-average cost of capital models, reducing required equity returns by up to 150 basis points in recent financings, and developers are now underwriting projects assuming a 5% to 7% annual capex decline through 2030. This confluence of technical, market, and financial factors has restored CSP to the centre of long-duration renewable energy planning. The value chain is characterised by oligopolistic supply structures for critical components, creating lead-time risks for project execution, while the shift toward hybrid CSP-PV configurations and industrial process heat applications is reshaping procurement strategies.

The Middle East and Africa leads the global CSP market with approximately 46% share, anchored by the UAE's Noor Energy 1, Morocco's NOOR I, II, and III complexes, and South Africa's Bokpoort and Redstone plants. Saudi Arabia is scaling further deployments under ACWA Power's portfolio, with the world's largest single CSP project a 1.2 GW tower plant reaching 70% financing completion and scheduled for full-capacity grid connection in 2027. Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region at a projected 13.4% CAGR, lifted by China's 15 GW target by 2030 and growing CSP activity in India and Australia. China's cumulative installed CSP capacity reached 1,738.2 MW by the end of 2025, with approximately 25 projects under substantive construction totalling 3,000 MW. India has become the second-largest CSP market after China, with cumulative installed capacity exceeding 2.8 GW and a 2026 target of 4.5 GW. Europe is led by Spain's mature 2.1 GW fleet, built under early feed-in-tariff regimes, with Italy advancing molten salt trough technology. The competitive landscape is highly concentrated, with the top five enterprises accounting for 71% of global new orders in 2025, including two Chinese enterprises with a combined 34% share, two European and American enterprises at 19% and 12% respectively, and one Middle Eastern enterprise at 6%. Cosin Solar has participated in approximately 16 CSP projects with a total installed capacity of 2,060 MW, representing a market share of about 60% in China, while ACWA Power, Abengoa, and BrightSource Energy maintain significant international positions.

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers • Long-Duration Thermal Energy Storage and Grid Dispatchability: The most powerful driver across the global CSP market is the accelerating recognition that long-duration dispatchable renewable energy is essential for grid stability as solar and wind penetration increases. CSP systems typically include 6 to 15 hours of thermal storage in their base costs, offering a clear edge over conventional photovoltaic setups combined with battery storage. Global transmission operators report deepening net-load ramps as solar penetration rises, with California's spring 2024 "duck curve" seeing a 13 GW three-hour ramp that strained reserves. The proportion of CSP configurations with storage duration exceeding 12 hours increased from less than 30% in 2020 to 52% in 2025, strengthening the economics of CSP in baseload and peak-shaving applications. Capital markets have started to factor lower revenue volatility into weighted-average cost of capital models, reducing required equity returns by up to 150 basis points in recent financings, and developers are now underwriting projects assuming a 5% to 7% annual capex decline through 2030.
• Declining LCOE and Policy Auctions in High-DNI Market:s Levelized-cost curves for CSP combined with molten-salt storage fell 70% between 2010 and 2024, hitting USD 0.092 per kWh worldwide, while Chinese projects landed at USD 0.069 per kWh in late 2024. Dubai's 950 MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Phase 4 locked a record USD 0.073 per kWh tariff in 2023, proving competitiveness against gas turbines in carbon-constrained markets. China's government has set a target of reaching 15 million kilowatts of installed CSP capacity by 2030, with the LCOE roughly equivalent to that of coal-fired power. India has become the second-largest CSP market after China, with cumulative installed capacity exceeding 2.8 GW and a 2026 target of 4.5 GW supported by fixed power purchase agreements and capital subsidy mechanisms. These policy frameworks, combined with auction-driven competition and local manufacturing in China and Gulf states, are creating a stronger economic foundation for the CSP market.

Market Challenges • Steep Initial Capital Costs and Financing Barriers: Steep initial capital costs pose a major financial barrier that limits wider commercial growth of the global CSP market. The necessity to purchase vast amounts of land and build expansive mirror arrays requires massive upfront funding, narrowing the field of potential investors who can afford to back utility-scale ventures. The levelized cost of electricity for CSP initiatives in 2025 varied between 0.426 and 0.5323 CNY per kWh, with the ongoing requirement to manage substantial early-stage debt ensuring that total energy cost remains higher than other renewable alternatives. Prospective backers are frequently discouraged by lengthy return-on-investment periods and significant debt loads, and the highly capital-intensive nature of these projects actively hinders capacity growth in areas without robust financial support. The rollout of supportive government policies and financial subsidies significantly speeds up development, but state directives that prioritize renewable thermal energy remain essential for mitigating high capital costs.
• PV and Battery Cost Declines Undercutting CSP Bids: Photovoltaic modules fell another 12% year-on-year in 2024, while lithium-ion packs are 89% cheaper than in 2010, letting four-hour hybrids clear auctions near USD 0.055 per kWh in high-irradiance markets. Australia's 2024-2025 tenders awarded no CSP, and the United States has not announced new CSP since 2020, as financiers prefer faster, proven photovoltaic projects. Unless RFPs explicitly demand eight-hour-plus discharge or carbon caps favour CSP, bid competitiveness will keep eroding near-term CSP market share. The challenge is particularly acute in residential and commercial markets where consumers prioritise electricity generation and battery storage over thermal applications.



Market Trends • Hybridisation with PV, Wind, and Thermal Storage: A growing number of CSP projects globally are being designed as hybrid plants combining photovoltaic arrays, battery energy storage, and CSP with TES, optimising both cost and dispatchability. This trend is most visible in India's SECI tenders and China's Qinghai province. The "CSP + PV + wind" multi-energy complementary hybrid project model accounted for 61% of new projects in 2025. Hybrid systems combining CSP with PV, wind, or natural gas backup are increasingly common, particularly in Chinese coordinated renewable energy bases and in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park's mixed configuration. Systems with thermal energy storage now account for the majority of new CSP installations and operational capacity, with the segment projected to grow at 11.6% CAGR through 2035, while stand-alone CSP without storage is in structural decline as the value of dispatchability has become central to commercial design.
• Shift Toward Solar Tower Technology and Industrial Decarbonisation: Solar power tower configurations, which achieve higher operating temperatures (565–650°C) and greater efficiency than parabolic troughs, now represent over 60% of new capacity announcements in Asia, driven by better LCOE and higher capacity factors. CSP technology is finding opportunities beyond conventional electricity generation, with its ability to produce very high temperatures making it useful for industrial processes such as chemical production, mineral processing, desalination, and fuel production. The U.S. Department of Energy continued supporting research into particle-based CSP systems capable of reaching temperatures of 700°C or higher in 2025, investigated for both electricity generation and thermal energy storage. In China, the world's first tower CSP project for ultra-heavy oil recovery surpassed 5,000 tonnes of steam production, demonstrating the technology's industrial decarbonisation potential.

Segmentation Analysis

Parabolic trough technology dominates the global market because it offers the most mature, bankable, and commercially proven solution for utility-scale CSP deployment, benefiting from more than two decades of operational experience and established supply chains.
• Parabolic trough technology represents the dominant share of installed capacity revenue in 2025, reflecting more than two decades of commercial operating experience, mature supply chains for parabolic mirror modules, receivers, and synthetic oil heat transfer fluid, and a long track record of bankable project performance.
• Parabolic trough technology with the technology benefiting from Spain's mature trough fleet built under early feed-in-tariff regimes, the US Mojave Desert plants, and Morocco's NOOR I and II installations.
• In China, the technology mix differs significantly from the global average reflecting the country's strategic focus on higher-temperature, higher-efficiency tower configurations.
• Linear Fresnel and dish/Stirling technologies remain niche, with combined deployment of less than 3% in 2025, though Fresnel arrays are gaining support in process heat projects where land constraints or lower-temperature demand determine economics.
• The shift toward solar tower technology in new capacity announcements reflects the technology's superior operating temperatures and efficiency, with tower configurations now representing over 60% of new capacity announcements in Asia.
• Cosin Solar has participated in approximately 16 CSP projects with a total installed capacity of 2,060 MW, representing a market share of about 60% in China, including the 350 MW Golmud CT CSP project, the largest single-unit installed capacity CT CSP project worldwide.

Molten salt dominates the CSP market by heat transfer fluid because it offers the highest thermal capacity, is suitable for long-duration thermal energy storage, and has been widely adopted in both tower and parabolic trough CSP plants.
• The molten salt segment dominated the market with the largest revenue share in 2025, driven by its high heat capacity, suitability for long-duration thermal storage, and broad adoption in tower and parabolic trough CSP plants.
• In indirect systems, synthetic oils serve as the primary HTF in the collector loop, transferring heat to molten salts or other TES media, allowing CSP plants to leverage the efficiency of synthetic oils at moderate temperatures while relying on molten salts for long-duration storage.
• The oil-based segment is expected to record the highest CAGR from 2026 to 2033, driven by continuous innovation to improve heat transfer efficiency, operational flexibility, and cost-effectiveness in small and medium-sized projects.
• Synthetic oils offer lower freezing points and viscosities, reducing pumping costs, but face environmental concerns and efficiency limitations at high temperatures, with research into nanofluids showing potential for up to 45.6% improvement in heat transfer efficiency at 90°C.
• Thermal energy storage costs, primarily molten-salt based, have fallen to USD 25–40/kWh-th, enabling longer discharge durations and improving plant economics for baseload and grid-support applications.
• Direct steam/water systems eliminate the need for intermediate heat transfer fluids, reducing capital costs, but face challenges in thermal energy storage integration due to the complexity of storing pressurised steam at scale.
• Emerging heat transfer fluids including high-temperature molten chlorides and particle-based systems are being developed to enable operating temperatures above 700°C, with the potential to reduce LCOE to USD 0.0550/kWh, a 20.38% reduction compared to conventional solar salt systems.

The 50–150 MW capacity segment represents the largest installed share of the CSP market in 2025 because it anchors the mature fleet of utility-scale plants in Spain, the US Southwest, Morocco, and South Africa, benefiting from economies of scale while remaining financeable under established policy frameworks.
• The 50-150 MW capacity band represents the largest installed share of the CSP market in 2025, anchored by mature plants in Spain, the US Southwest, Morocco, and South Africa.
• Plants sized above 150 MW held 49.4% of 2025 installations, yet the 50 MW to 150 MW class is growing at 19.3% CAGR amid easier project finance.
• Above 150 MW is the fastest-growing capacity band at a projected 11.2% CAGR, driven by the wave of larger Chinese projects including 350 MW triple-tower configurations and integrated CSP+PV hybrid plants exceeding 700 MW total capacity at sites like Dubai's Noor Energy 1.
• Below 50 MW remains relevant for distributed industrial process heat, mining-driven off-grid power, and select first-of-kind demonstration projects, though the volumetric share is structurally declining.
• China has approximately 25 CSP projects under substantive construction across provinces and autonomous regions, with a combined installed capacity of 3,000 MW, including multiple 100 MW and larger tower and trough configurations.
• The Golmud 350MW CT CSP project is currently the largest CT CSP project in terms of single-unit installed capacity among completed, planned, and ongoing projects worldwide.
• Capacity configurations ranging from 5 MW to 20 MW in distributed CSP and industrial steam applications achieved 47% year-on-year growth in India and South Africa, representing an emerging segment for modular, smaller-scale deployments.

Utility-scale electricity generation dominates the global CSP market by application because the technology's high capital intensity, economies of scale, and long-duration storage capabilities make it optimally suited for large-scale power generation, accounting for approximately 98% of CSP demand in 2025.
• Utilities account for the overwhelming majority of CSP demand, reflecting the technology's capital intensity and economies of scale at utility-grade installations.
• Desalination is the fastest-growing end-user segment, supported by water-scarce regions including the Gulf, North Africa, and parts of Latin America where CSP power and water production can be co-located.
• Industrial process heat is gaining commercial momentum through Glasspoint's USD 20 million solar fund, ENGIE-HEINEKEN industrial integration in Spain, and Synhelion's long-term solar jet fuel offtake with SWISS.
• Enhanced oil recovery is a smaller but established niche, particularly in the US Southwest and Middle East, with the world's first tower CSP project for ultra-heavy oil recovery surpassing 5,000 tonnes of steam production.
• The DESOLINATION project integrates CSP with advanced membrane processes and zero-liquid discharge technology to create a sustainable, zero-carbon desalination system, with the heat exchanger successfully installed on-site in March 2025.
• For industrial process heat applications, parabolic trough collector plants supplying heat at 150°C are the most economical option, with a levelized cost of heat of 4.39 ¢/kWh, while molten salt power tower configurations supplying heat at 574°C are significantly more expensive at 10.30 ¢/kWh.
• The U.S. Department of Energy's SETO/CSP research programme is focusing on thermally driven industrial processes including desalination, enhanced oil recovery, agriculture and food processing, fuel and hydrogen, and mining and metals processing.

Regional Analysis

Middle East and Africa is the largest region globally because it hosts the world's most extensive CSP installations, including the UAE's Noor Energy 1, Morocco's NOOR complexes, and South Africa's Bokpoort and Redstone plants, supported by exceptional solar resources and national energy diversification strategies.
• The Middle East and Africa leads the CSP market anchored by the UAE's Noor Energy 1, Morocco's NOOR I, II, and III complexes, and South Africa's Bokpoort and Redstone plants.
• Saudi Arabia is scaling further deployments under ACWA Power's portfolio, with the world's largest single CSP project a 1.2 GW tower plant in Saudi Arabia reaching 70% financing completion and scheduled for full-capacity grid connection in 2027, marking the region's transition from technology import to autonomous development.
• Morocco is home to the largest operating CSP complex in the world: Noor Ouarzazate, which comprises 510 MW of CSP and a 72 MW PV plant.
• Dubai's 950 MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Phase 4 locked a record USD 0.073 per kWh tariff in 2023, proving competitiveness against gas turbines in carbon-constrained markets, with fifteen-hour storage allowing utilities to defer large battery procurements.
• The region benefits from exceptional Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) levels, with many areas exceeding 2,000 kWh/m²/year, making CSP economically competitive with conventional generation in carbon-constrained markets.
• The DESOLINATION project, integrating CSP with advanced membrane desalination, is being deployed in the region, reflecting the growing synergy between CSP and water production in water-scarce Gulf states.
• The region's CSP growth is supported by national energy diversification strategies, with countries actively developing utility-scale solar thermal plants to address rising electricity demand and reduce carbon intensity.

Key development

• March 2026: Construction fully resumed on the Delingha 350 MW CSP Demonstration Project, with excavation of the receiver tower foundation completed. The project is a landmark in China's expanding CSP programme.
• April 2026: CGN's 50MW Uma Tang CSP Project in Tibet officially broke ground, representing an expansion of CSP into high-altitude, high-DNI regions of China.
• May 2026: China Energy's first tower CSP project the 100 MW Qingyu HVDC Phase-II plant of Qinghai Gonghe Co. was successfully synchronized to the grid, marking the group's maiden tower CSP venture.
• March 2026: Cosin Solar reported that approximately 25 CSP projects are under substantive construction across China with a combined installed capacity of 3,000 MW, with Cosin participating in about 16 projects totalling 2,060 MW and holding a market share of about 60%.
• February 2026: AURAK researcher presented a breakthrough integrated solar-driven solution combining CSP with a solar tower-driven Brayton cycle, steam Rankine and Organic Rankine bottoming cycles, reverse-osmosis desalination, and PEM electrolyser for simultaneous electricity, green hydrogen, and freshwater production.
• December 2025: The National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration of China jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the Scaled Development of Concentrated Solar Power, setting a target of 15 GW installed CSP capacity by 2030 with LCOE roughly equivalent to coal-fired power.
• November 2025: The U.S. Department of Energy highlighted ongoing Gen3 CSP development, including a system designed to store 9 megawatt-hours of thermal energy at 750°C for at least 10 hours, demonstrating progress toward next-generation solar thermal systems.
• May 2025: The U.S. Department of Energy continued supporting research into particle-based CSP systems capable of reaching temperatures of 700°C or higher, investigated for both electricity generation and thermal energy storage.
• March 2025: The DESOLINATION project successfully installed its heat exchanger on-site, advancing the integration of CSP with advanced membrane processes and zero-liquid discharge technology for sustainable, zero-carbon desalination.

Considered in this report
Historic Year: 2020
Base year: 2025
Estimated year: 2026
Forecast year: 2031

Aspects covered in this report
Concentrated Solar Power Market with its value and forecast along with its segments
Various drivers and challenges
On-going trends and developments
Top profiled companies
Strategic recommendation

By Technology
• Parabolic Trough
• Linear Fresnel
• Power Tower
• Dish/Stirling

By Heat Transfer Fluid
• Molten Salt
• Synthetic Oil
• Direct Steam/Water
• Other Fluids

By Capacity
• Below 50 MW
• 50–150 MW
• Above 150 MW

By Application
• Utility-Scale Electricity Generation
• Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
• Desalination
• Industrial Process Heat
• Other Applications