Solar Thermal Energy in the European Union - 2025 Status Report on Technology Development, Trends, Value Chains and Markets

This is the 2025 update of the Clean Energy Technology Observatory report on trends in the development of solar thermal energy, including concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar heat for buildings, district heating, and industrial processes. Operational CSP plants now account for 7.6 GW of capacity worldwide. CSP remains a niche power generation technology, albeit with potential to play a significant role in supporting grids with high proportions of variable renewable energy. China has become the leading developer of CSP systems, thanks to a steady project pipeline. Solar thermal technologies for heating and cooling reached a global installed capacity of 544 GW at the end of 2024, covering 777 million m2 . The EU accounted for 7.5% of global capacity, with more than 3 000 MWth of manufacturing capacity. Extra-EU exports of solar water heaters continue to grow. In 2024, the extra-EU trade surplus was estimated at EUR 16 million, with seven Member States among the top 10 exporters of solar water heaters worldwide. France is the second largest exporter in the world, at around EUR 170 million.