TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gosens, Jorrit
A1  - Gilmanova, Alina
A1  - Lilliestam, Johan
T1  - Windows of opportunity for catching up in formative clean-tech sectors and the rise of China in concentrated solar power
JF  - Environmental innovation and societal transitions
N2  - We analyse the potential for industry entry and catching up by latecomer countries or firms in formative sectors, by deriving a framework that builds on the concept of windows of opportunity for catching up. This framework highlights differences in technological, market, and institutional characteristics between formative and mature sectors, and elaborates how this may affect opportunities for catching up. We apply this framework to the global Concentrated Solar Power sector, in which China has rapidly narrowed the gap to the global forefront in terms of technological capabilities and market competitiveness. We find that the formative nature of the sector resulted in turbulent development of the technological, market, and institutional dimensions, making it more difficult for early leaders to retain leadership, and therefore easier for latecomer firms or countries to catch up. This signals an increased role in early-stage technology development in the next phase of the energy transition.
KW  - catching up
KW  - windows of opportunity
KW  - formative sectors
KW  - concentrating solar power
KW  - China
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.03.005
SN  - 2210-4224
VL  - 39
SP  - 86
EP  - 106
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lilliestam, Johan
A1  - Ollier, Lana
A1  - Labordena  Mir, Mercè
A1  - Pfenninger, Stefan
A1  - Thonig, Richard
T1  - The near- to mid-term outlook for concentrating solar power
BT  - mostly cloudy, chance of sun
JF  - Energy sources. B, Economics, planning and policy
N2  - The history of concentrating solar power (CSP) is characterized by a boom-bust pattern caused by policy support changes. Following the 2014-2016 bust phase, the combination of Chinese support and several low-cost projects triggered a new boom phase. We investigate the near- to mid-term cost, industry, market and policy outlook for the global CSP sector and show that CSP costs have decreased strongly and approach cost-competitiveness with new conventional generation. Industry has been strengthened through the entry of numerous new companies. However, the project pipeline is thin: no project broke ground in 2019 and only four projects are under construction in 2020. The only remaining large support scheme, in China, has been canceled. Without additional support soon creating a new market, the value chain may collapse and recent cost and technological advances may be undone. If policy support is renewed, however, the global CSP sector is prepared for a bright future.
KW  - concentrating solar power
KW  - technological learning
KW  - value chain analysis
KW  - energy policy
KW  - industry development
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2020.1773580
SN  - 1556-7249
SN  - 1556-7257
VL  - 16
IS  - 1
SP  - 23
EP  - 41
PB  - Taylor & Francis
CY  - London [u.a.]
ER  -