Desertec solar energy to be imported within five years

Solar from the Sahara

The Desertec Initiative is a project that has been extensively covered by EU Infrastructure in the past due to its grand idea - to cover the Sahara Desert with solar panels so as to power Europe with solar energy almost exclusively.

Of course, since the project was announced it has been plagued with various delays and problems, with funding being the main one as the Desertec consortium (consisting of Siemens, RWE and Deutsche Bank) are chasing public funding.

However, the European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettingerhas said that the continent could see solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, saying the EU is "back projects" that utilise Sahara sunlight to produce electricity. Schemes such as Desertec would aid the EU in reaching its target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

"A vision for the next 20 to 40 years"

Speaking to North African Reuters after a meeting with energy ministers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, Oettinger said, "I think some models starting in the next five years will bring some hundreds of megawatts to the European market."

"Desertec as a whole is a vision for the next 20 to 40 years with investment of hundreds of billions of euros," he added. "To integrate a bigger percentage of renewables, solar and wind, needs time."

He stated that over the next few years, energy would come mainly from small pilot projects while Desertec secures its investment but solar producing power would then increase rapidly.

The EU has long seen the potential for solar energy from the Sahara and last year, announced they would lay a series of highly-efficient cables across the Mediterranean that would connect to a host of solar power plants in North Africa.

The Desertec Initiative will see 6,500 square miles of the Sahara Desert covered in photovoltaic cells and solar panels at a cost of €400 million. Studies have shown that by covering under five percent of the desert in solar panels, Europe could be indefinitely powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

Relevant articles:

Desertec: Powering Europe from the Sahara | €400bn super-grid to link Europe and the Middle East | Roadmap 2050: Linking EU power grids

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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