daily · Clean Energy

SolarPACES reports China has passed Spain in operational CSP capacity

The November 5 report attributes 2,438 MW of installed capacity to CSTA following an October 30 grid connection. National capacity is not a measure of continuous output.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published November 5, 2026 · Updated 11/5/2026

SolarPACES reported on November 5 that China has overtaken Spain to become the country with the most concentrating solar power capacity online. The report attributes the capacity tally to the China Solar Thermal Alliance, or CSTA. It is a newly published account of a grid connection that occurred on October 30, not a claim that the project first connected on November 5.

CSTA says China reached 2,438 megawatts of cumulative installed CSP capacity after the 100 MW CSP section of the Fukang multi-energy project in Xinjiang began grid-connected generation. SolarPACES describes the national total as 2.4 gigawatts. The rounded figure and the more precise tally describe the same reported total.

The CSP section is part of a larger 1 GW project developed by China Green Development Group. The 100 MW figure applies to the concentrating solar section, while 1 GW describes the larger multi-energy project. Treating the whole project as 1 GW of CSP would overstate the addition.

SolarPACES identifies the new section as tower CSP and names Cosin Solar as the solar-system provider. Its report links the project to its map of Chinese CSP installations. The milestone concerns operational deployment rather than an announcement of another project still in planning.

The capacity comparison is attributed to CSTA through SolarPACES, rather than presented as an independent audit by this publication. The short report does not provide a storage-duration figure or a measured year-round operating record for the new section. It does not establish uninterrupted electricity supply from the plant.

For energy readers, the useful distinction is between installed generating capacity and actual generation over time. The reported national lead does not by itself show how much electricity the project will deliver, what it costs to operate or how household bills will change. Those questions need operating and cost data beyond this announcement.