Sichuan's First 100-MW Tower CSP Plant Wins Environmental Approval

• Aba prefecture approved the environmental assessment for a 100-MW molten-salt tower, Sichuan's first tower CSP plant, alongside 900 MW of PV.
• The tower has eight hours of storage; China had 1,738.2 MW of CSP at end-2025, according to the China Solar Thermal Alliance.
• Phase I costs CNY 4.425 billion ($658 million); a second phase would double the park to 2 GW. No construction date is set.

Sichuan's first tower concentrated solar power (CSP) plant has won environmental approval, the Aba prefecture government said on Oct. 13. The 100-megawatt tower anchors the 1-gigawatt first phase of a planned 2-GW solar park.

The Aba Prefecture Ecology and Environment Bureau approved the assessment for Phase I of the Aba Maikun CSP and PV project. It adds 900 MW of PV at 3,600 to 3,900 meters above sea level. A Sept. 11 bureau notice gives the tower eight hours of equivalent molten-salt storage. It names Aba County Shudao Clean Energy Co. as the developer. Phase I costs about CNY 4.425 billion ($658 million), excluding the grid connection.

The decision covers the environmental review only. Two PV construction contracts were awarded in September, and a heliostat and receiver supplier has been picked, the prefecture said.

China had 1,738.2 MW of CSP in 27 plants at end-2025, up 107% in a year, according to the China Solar Thermal Alliance. Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang held 91% of that capacity.

The project in numbers

• 2 GW planned over two phases: 200 MW of CSP and 1.8 GW of PV, for about CNY 9.2 billion ($1.37 billion).
• 8 hours of equivalent storage on the 100-MW tower, or about 800 MWh of output from a full charge (list.solar calculation).
• 255 meters tall receiver tower, served by 10,205 heliostats with 400,036 square meters of mirror area.
• 900 MW / 979.75 MWp of PV from 1,315,104 n-type bifacial 745-W modules.
• 180 MW / 360 MWh of batteries at the two PV substations: 80 MW / 160 MWh and 100 MW / 200 MWh.
• CNY 4.4 ($0.66) per watt blended cost for Phase I, excluding the grid connection (list.solar calculation).
• 5.8% added to China's end-2025 CSP fleet of 1,738.2 MW by the 100-MW tower (list.solar calculation).

The bureau's conditions include high-contrast bands on the tower against bird strikes and anti-glare screens along the G347 national highway. Heliostats must park out of focus outside generating hours.

Phase I also reserves a district heating connection that could warm about 500,000 square meters of buildings in the Aba county seat, the prefecture said.

A second phase would add another 100 MW of CSP and 900 MW of PV. The prefecture has not given a construction start or commissioning date for either phase.