How does the cost of electricity produced by CSP plants compare to the cost of electricity produced by fossil fuel plants?
Solar thermal power is probably cheaper than power from fossil fuels when all cost externalities are considered. While many of the costs of fossil fuels are well known, others (pollution related health problems, environmental degradation, the impact on national security from relying on foreign energy sources) are indirect and difficult to calculate. These are traditionally external to the pricing system, and are thus often referred to as externalities. In order to better control this matter, legislative and regulatory bodies are moving to require the sequestration of carbon to keep it out of the atmosphere, or apply a corrective pricing mechanism, such as a carbon tax, to fossil-fueled power plants. Either measure will lead to the cost of solar thermal power becoming cheaper to the consumer than fossil fuel based energy. Even without pricing cost externalities, the cost of solar thermal power is going down. As more plants are built and technologies improve, this price should continuous
