# Concentrated solar power: Resources and labour

Steel, glass, salt, land and surprising amounts of water

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/resources/

What this tab covers The natural resources (land, water, materials, fuel or feedstock) and the labour needed to capture this energy, per unit, with the reason each is needed.

CSP needs strong direct sunlight, about 2 hectares per MW, large amounts of steel, glass, concrete and nitrate salt, and, unless dry-cooled, as much water per MWh as a coal plant. It employs more people per MW than PV.

#### Natural resources

| Resource | How much | Why it is needed |
|---|---|---|
| **Land and direct sunlight** | About 2 ha per MW for troughs, towers and Fresnel, 1-1.5 ha for dishes; best sites (over 2,800 kWh/m2 a year of direct sunlight) yield 100-130 GWh per km2 a year^[1](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf) | Only direct-beam light can be focused, and mirrors are spaced to avoid shading. |
| **Water** | Wet-cooled troughs median 906 gallons per MWh (3.4 m3, calculated), towers 786; dry-cooled 26-78; coal about 687^[5](https://openei.org/datasets/files/969/pub/1748-9326_7_4_045802.pdf)^[1](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf) | The steam cycle must reject heat. Dry cooling uses about 10% of the water but costs about 10% more and loses about 7% of output. |
| **Steel** | About 340 t per MW net for a 110 MW tower with 17.5 hours of storage, about 100 t without storage (calculated)^[10](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073672) | Heliostat frames, tower, tanks, pipework and receiver tubes. |
| **Concrete** | About 1,100 m3 per MW for the same tower plant (calculated)^[10](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073672) | Foundations for thousands of heliostats, the tower, tanks and buildings. |
| **Glass** | About 100 t of coated mirror glass per MW (calculated)^[10](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073672) | Silvered glass mirrors reflect sunlight onto the receiver. |
| **Nitrate salt** | About 56,000 t for the same plant (about 510 t per MW, calculated)^[10](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073672) | Sodium and potassium nitrate stays liquid at receiver temperatures (up to about 565 C), storing heat cheaply for many hours. |

#### Labour

| Phase | How much | Skills | Why it is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| **All phases** | About 8-10 jobs per MW; 126,000 CSP jobs worldwide in 2024, 107,000 in China^[1](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf)^[11](https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-01/IRENA_SOC_RE_and_jobs_2026.pdf) | Mechanical, civil and electrical engineers, welders, plant operators | Each plant is a bespoke thermal power station with many moving mirrors. |
| **Construction** | About 500 workers for a 50 MW plant^[1](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf) | Civil works, steel erection, mirror assembly, pipework | Thousands of mirrors and kilometres of pipe are assembled and aligned on site. |
| **Operation and maintenance** | About 30-40 staff for a 50 MW plant^[1](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf) | Operators, maintenance technicians, mirror-cleaning crews | Turbine and salt systems need constant supervision; mirrors need cleaning. |
| **Decommissioning** | No figure; Ivanpah's planned 2026 closure will be one of the first large retirements^[4](https://www.ren21.net/gsr/2025/csp) | Demolition and recycling of steel, glass and salt | Few commercial plants have been retired. |

#### Sources

1. [Concentrating Solar Power: Technology Brief E10](https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2013/IRENA-ETSAP-Tech-Brief-E10-Concentrating-Solar-Power.pdf) IRENA and IEA-ETSAP, 2013
2. [Renewables 2025 Global Status Report: Concentrating solar thermal power](https://www.ren21.net/gsr/2025/csp) REN21, 2025
3. [Operational water consumption and withdrawal factors for electricity generating technologies: a review of existing literature (Macknick et al., Environmental Research Letters 7, 045802), Tables 1 and 2](https://openei.org/datasets/files/969/pub/1748-9326_7_4_045802.pdf) IOP Publishing (copy hosted by OpenEI), 2012
4. [Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Plant in Tower Configuration with and without Thermal Energy Storage (Gasa et al., Sustainability 13(7), 3672), Tables 1 and 2](https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073672) MDPI, 2021
5. [Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2025 (Table 1)](https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-01/IRENA_SOC_RE_and_jobs_2026.pdf) IRENA and ILO, 2026

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/correlation/index.md)
- [Efficiency](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/efficiency/index.md)
- [Techniques](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/techniques/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/biosphere/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_csp/links/index.md)