By establishing partnerships and creating specialised industry networks, smaller players are able to enter into the CSP industry and ramp-up a competitive technology.

In the past two years, giant energy companies such as Siemens, GE, Alstom Power and Areva have made giant strides towards success in CSP. Not only has this increased much needed cash flow to the industry but has furthered confidence in CSP for other investors such as banks.

But now it's not just the big players making the big gains; new smaller entrants have found creative ways to ramp-up their technology. Such is the case of Solar Tower Systems (STS), a German CSP technology company developing products for solar tower plants including heliostat fields, receivers and storage, using the experience of the founder's team which stretches back to the early days of CSP.

STS focus on their core strength, technology development, and collaborate with experienced industrial companies. With a strong history in the CSP space, Bosch Rexroth has recently partnered with STS for the joint development and commercialisation of heliostat systems.

Joachim Maass, CEO at STS, recently announced the exciting news that STS are developing a technology able to improve the heliostat field performance significantly which could lead to a 40% investment saving for the heliostat field. For the company it is vital to keep investing in their R&D activities and to deliver cost-efficient products.

Since vertical integration is not always an option for smaller companies, Maass believes that creating specialised industry networks is an effective way to deliver a competitive technology whilst filling the gaps within the value chain.

Joachim Maass, will present the STS case study at CSP Today Sevilla (5th Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Summit) on November 29-30. For more information about the event visit: www.csptoday.com/csp or contact Maria Slough at maria@csptoday.com