The concentrated solar power plant shown here has just been called “a pioneer for future power stations.”
It has won an award from the Desertec project on the basis of its ability to store heat energy by melting salt, and so be able to generate electricity for 24 hours/day.
The plant has been in operation for three years and uses mirrors across 457 acres (185 hectares) to generate sufficient electricity for about 25,000 homes. That’s about 0.02 acres or 0.007 hectares per home.
Desertec wants to scale up the technology to cover large parts of the deserts in north Africa, and supply the power to Europe.
Sources: Grist, ClimateCentral, Desertec