Abstract Concentrating solar thermal power system can provide low carbon, renewable energy resources in countries or regions with strong solar irradiation. For this kind of power plant which is likely to be located in the arid area, natural draft dry cooling tower is a promising choice. To develop the experimental studies on small cooling tower, a 20 m high natural draft dry cooling tower with fully instrumented measurement system was established by the Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence. The performance of this cooling tower was measured with the constant heat input of 600 kW and 840 kW and with ambient temperature ranging from 20 °C to 32 °C. The cooling tower numerical model was refined and validated with the experimental data. The model of 1 MW concentrating solar thermal supercritical CO 2 power cycle was developed and integrated with the cooling tower model. The influences of changing ambient temperature and the performance of the cooling tower on efficiency of the power system were simulated. The differences of the mechanism of the ambient temperature effect on Rankine cycle and supercritical CO 2 Brayton cycle were analysed and discussed.