Solar Millennium, a German solar power company that specializes in concentrated solar power, has filed for bankruptcy. The primary reason was rapidly dropping solar photovoltaic prices and the subsequent shift from CSP to PV. The proposed 1 GW Blythe Solar Power Project in California has decided to switch from CSP to PV, which was a huge loss of business for Solar Millenium.
The humungous Desertec Project in the Middle East and North Africa still plans to use CSP, but are about the only big project still planning to do so. The bankruptcy will directly impact their plans too. It’s hard to see how CSP survives all this as a viable technology. For one thing, it requires water, often large amounts, in deserts while PV uses very little.