The role of concentrated solar power in the internet of energy

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in the newly emerging concept of energy internet. The modern world demands new solutions to face climate change and CSP technology integrated into the global internet of energy network could offer new venues to these challenges. The internet of energy is an ecosystem of energy producers and energy consumers, connecting the electric grid to the internet and integrating the information and power flows bi-directionally in a common infrastructure. The main role of the Internet of Energy is to balance the grid, while CSP technology is one of the least environmentally and ecologically harmful systems, which could provide a baseload electricity generation to meet electricity demand requirements. The aim of this paper is to identify the place of CSP in the deployment of the Internet of Energy, based on a thorough literature review, an assessment of current development trends and interviews with key sector stakeholders. The discussion is also based on the experience of the DESERTEC project, as well as on the overview of newly emerged GEIDCO initiative. We analysed political, economic and technical challenges and advantages of CSP integration into the internet of energy. The results has shown that despite already proven benefits and additional value of CSP to the grid, the technology is usually overlooked by many energy scenarios of further development of electricity sector. Therefore, we argue that further work is needed in this field to ensure the integration of CSP technology in the Internet of Energy and required public support.