Desertec
Encyclopedia
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
. This concept will be implemented in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
by the consortium Dii GmbH, formed by a group of European companies and the DESERTEC Foundation. The DESERTEC concept was initiated under the auspices of the Club of Rome
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the CoR describes itself as "a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity." It consists of current and...
and the German Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation
Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation
The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation is a voluntary association formed in 2003 as an initiative of the German association of the Club of Rome and the Hamburg Climate Protection Foundation....
(TREC). Construction of the Desertec's first 500 MW solar farm in Morocco is schedueled to start in 2012.
On Nov 24th, 2011, a MoU
MOU
MOU, MoU, Mou or mou may refer to:* Memorandum of understanding* Minutes of Use, in telecommunication operations* Ministry of Unification, a branch of the South Korean government.* The Museum of Osaka University...
was signed between Medgrid consortium and Dii to study, design and promote an interconnected electrical grid linking Desertec and the Medgrid
Medgrid
Medgrid, created at the end of 2010 in Paris, is a large industrial project planned in North Africa, which aims to promote and develop a Euro-Mediterranean electricity network that would provide North Africa & Europe with inexpensive renewable electricity, mostly from solar...
projects. The medgrid together with Desertec would serve as the backbone of the European super grid
European super grid
The European super grid is a possible future super grid that would ultimately interconnect the various European countries and the regions around Europe's borders – including North Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, etc...
and the benefits of investing in HVDC technology are being assessed to reach the final goal – the supersmart grid
SuperSmart Grid
The SuperSmart Grid is a hypothetical wide area electricity network connecting Europe with northern Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and the IPS/UPS system of CIS countries. The system would unify super grid and smart grid capabilities into a comprehensive network...
.
Description
The DESERTEC concept aims at promoting the generation of electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europa using solar power plants, wind parks and the transmission of this electricity to the consumption centres, promoted by the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation. Despite its name, Desertec's proposal would see most of the power plants located outside of the Sahara Desert
Sahara Desert (ecoregion)
The Sahara desert ecoregion, as defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature , includes the hyper-arid center of the Sahara, between 18° and 30° N. It is one of several desert and xeric shrubland ecoregions that cover the northern portion of the African continent.-Setting:The Sahara is the world's...
itself, in the more accessible southern
South Saharan steppe and woodlands
The South Saharan steppe and woodlands is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa.The ecoregion covers in Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan...
and northern
North Saharan steppe and woodlands
The North Saharan steppe and woodlands is a desert ecoregion, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome, that forms the northern edge of the Sahara, adjacent to the Mediterranean Maghreb and Cyrenaica ecoregions of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Biome.Winter rains sustain...
steppes and woodlands, as well as the relatively moist Atlantic coastal desert
Atlantic coastal desert
The Atlantic coastal desert is the westernmost ecoregion in the Sahara of North Africa. It occupies a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, where fog generated offshore by the cool Canary Current provides sufficient moisture to sustain a variety of lichens, succulents, and shrubs.It covers in...
.
The original and first region for the assessment and application of this concept is the EU-MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
region (Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa). The realization of the DESERTEC concept in this region is pursued by the industrial initiative Dii.
Under the DESERTEC proposal, concentrating solar power systems, photovoltaic systems and wind
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
parks would be spread over the desert regions in Northern Africa like the Sahara desert. Produced electricity would be transmitted to European and African countries by a super grid
Super grid
A super grid is a wide area transmission network that makes it possible to trade high volumes of electricity across great distances. It is sometimes also referred to as a "mega grid".-History:...
of high-voltage direct current
High-voltage direct current
A high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses...
cables. It would provide a considerable part of the electricity demand of the MENA countries and furthermore provide continental Europe with 15% of its electricity needs. By 2050, investments into solar plants and transmission lines would be total €400 billion. The exact plan, including technical and financial requirements, will be designed by 2012.
An international network of scientists, experts and politicians from the field of renewable energies form the core of the DESERTEC network, coordinated by the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation. One of the most famous members is Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
.
History
The DESERTEC concept was originally developed by TREC, which itself was founded 2003 by the Club of Rome and the National Energy Research Center Jordan, with the scientific work mainly done by the German Aerospace CenterGerman Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany. Its headquarters are located in Cologne. It is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in...
(DLR).
On 13 July 2009, twelve companies from Europe and North Africa and the DESERTEC Foundation announced their intention to create an industrial initiative to accelerate the implementation of the DESERTEC Concept in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. On 30 October 2009, the joint venture was founded in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
under the name Dii GmbH.
In February 2010, Dii announced that the focus will be to develop demonstration projects and to ensure renewable energy laws allowing imports of green energy are in place in various countries. Talks with the Moroccan government had been successful and the Dii confirmed their first reference project would be on Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
soil. In June 2011, Dii signed a memorandum with understating with the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen).
In April 2010, a consortium spokeperson made the following official confirmation: "Our reference projects will not be located in the Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
. When looking for project sites, Desertec Industrial Initiative will also take political, ecological or cultural issues into consideration. This procedure is in line with the funding policies of international development banks."
In November 2011, plans were finalised to begin the construction of Desertec's first 500 MW solar farm in Morocco. Construction of the solar farm will begin in 2012.
Studies
The DESERTEC Concept is mainly based on three studies conducted by the German Aerospace CenterGerman Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany. Its headquarters are located in Cologne. It is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in...
, which among other topics have analyzed the available ressources for renewable energies, the predicted demand for energy and water in EU-MENA till 2050 and the creation of an integrated electricity network between Europe and MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
. The studies have been commissioned the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and have been conducted by the German Aerospace Center
German Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany. Its headquarters are located in Cologne. It is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in...
between 2004 and 2007. The studies are MED-CSP, focusing on availability of resources and demand for energy in the Mediterranean area, TRANS-CSP, concentrating on the assessment of an interconnection between Europe and MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
and the assessment of solar energy imports, and AQUA-CSP, which analyzes the demand of water and the possibility to generate fresh water along with electricity by the thermal solar power plants.
Developer
The project of the realization of the DESERTEC concept in EU-MENA is developed by Dii GmbH, a consortium of European and Algerian companies founded in Munich and led by Munich ReMunich Re
Munich Re Group is a reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the world’s leading reinsurers. ERGO, a Munich Re subsidiary, is the Group’s primary insurance arm....
. The project company is incorporated under German law. The consortium consists of the DESERTEC Foundation, Munich Re
Munich Re
Munich Re Group is a reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the world’s leading reinsurers. ERGO, a Munich Re subsidiary, is the Group’s primary insurance arm....
, Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, ABB, E.ON
E.ON
E.ON AG, marketed with an interpunct as E•ON, is the holding company of the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name comes from the Greek word aeon which means eternity....
, RWE
RWE
RWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...
, Abengoa Solar, Cevital
Cevital
Cevital spa is a major Algerian manufacturer of food products, created by Issad Rebrab. The company specializes in food industry. The company's headquarters are in Béjaïa.Cevital is a founding member of the Desertec project....
, HSH Nordbank
HSH Nordbank
HSH Nordbank is a commercial bank in northern Europe with headquarters in Hamburg as well as Kiel, Germany. It is active in corporate and private banking. HSHs main focus is on shipping, transportation, real estate and renewable energy....
, M & W Zander Holding, MAN Solar Millennium, and Schott Solar. Press investigations point to a number of more interested parties - among them ENEL
Enel
Enel may refer to:*Enel SpA, an Italian electricity company*Enel , a fictional villain in the One Piece manga and anime series*Enel, meaning third in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, cf. Awakening of the Elves...
, Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
, Red Eléctrica de España
Red Eléctrica de España
Red Eléctrica de España is a Spanish corporation which operates the nation's power transmission system and electricity grid.The company was created in 1985 by the Spanish Government-owned holding company Instituto Nacional de Industria to provide a unified national power grid.The firm was also...
and companies from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. CEO of Dii GmbH is Paul van Son, a senior international energy manager.
Benefits
More energy falls on the world's deserts in six hours than the world consumes in a year, and the Saharan desert is virtually uninhabited and is close to Europe. Supporters say that the project will keep Europe "at the forefront of the fight against climate change and help North African and European economies to grow within greenhouse gas emission limits". DESERTEC officials say the project could one day deliver 15 percent of Europe's electricity and a considerable part of MENA's electricity demand. According to the DESERTEC Foundation, the project has strong job creation potential and could improve the stability in the region. According to the report by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and the Club of Rome, the project could create 240,000 German jobs and generate €2 trillion worth of electricity by 2050.Obstacles
Centralized solar energy plants and transmission lines may become a target of terrorist attacks. Some experts—such as Professor Tony Day, director of the Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Building at London South Bank University, Henry Wilkinson of Janusian Security Risk Management, and Wolfram Lacher of Control Risks consultancy -- are concerned about political obstacles to the project. Generating so much of the electricity consumed in Europe and in Africa would create a political dependency on North African countries which have corruption and a lack of cross-border coordination. Moreover, DESERTEC would require extensive economic and political cooperation between AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, which is at risk as the border between the two countries is closed due to a disagreement over the Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
. Cooperation between the states of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the states of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
is also certain to be challenging. Large scale cooperation necessary between the EU and the north African nations the project may be delayed due to bureaucratic red tape and other factors such as expropriation of assets.
There are also concerns that the water requirement for the solar plant to clean dust off panels and for turbine coolant may be detrimental to local populations in terms of the demand it will place on the local water supply.
Opposed to this, studies point out the generation of fresh water by the solar thermal plants. Furthermore, no significant amount of water is needed for cleaning and cooling, since alternative technologies can be used (dry cleaning, dry cooling).
The late Hermann Scheer
Hermann Scheer
Hermann Scheer was a Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag , President of Eurosolar and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy...
(Eurosolar
Eurosolar
Eurosolar is the non-profit European Association for Renewable Energy that conducts its work independently of political parties, institutions, commercial enterprises and interest groups...
) pointed out that the doubled solar radiation in the Sahara can not be the only criterion especially with its continuous trade wind
Trade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
s there being problematic.
Transmitting energy over long distances has been criticized, with questions raised over the cost of cabling compared to energy generation, and over electricity losses.
Opposed to this, the study and current operating technology show, that electricity losses using High-voltage direct current
High-voltage direct current
A high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses...
transmission amount to only 3% per 1,000 km (25% per 10,000 km).
Investment may be required within Europe in a 'supergrid
SuperGrid
The SuperGrid refers the existing high voltage transmission grid in Great Britain that was constructed in the 1960s, and to various overseas parallels, including the concept, again in the British context, of increased connectivity to our neighbours...
'. In response, one proposal is to cascade power between neighbouring states so that states draw on the power generation of neighbouring states rather than from distant desert sites.
One key question will be the cultural aspect, as Middle Eastern and African nations may need assurance that they will own the project rather than it being imposed from Europe.
See also
- European super gridEuropean super gridThe European super grid is a possible future super grid that would ultimately interconnect the various European countries and the regions around Europe's borders – including North Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, etc...
- Intermittent energy source
- List of HVDC projects
- North Sea Offshore GridNorth Sea Offshore GridThe North Sea Offshore Grid, officially the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative , is a collaboration between EU member-states and Norway to create an integrated offshore energy grid which links wind farms and other renewable energy sources across the northern seas of Europe...
- Renewable energy in MoroccoRenewable energy in MoroccoRenewable energy in Morocco represented 0.4% of the national energy balance andnearly 10% of electricity production in 2007. Supported by strong hydropower sources and the newly...
- Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
- Solar energy in Israel
- SolelSolelSolel Solar Systems Ltd. is an Israeli solar thermal equipment designer and manufacturer based in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Solel makes equipment for solar thermal power plants, facilities that use the sun's heat to create steam and turn an electricity generator....
- SuperSmart GridSuperSmart GridThe SuperSmart Grid is a hypothetical wide area electricity network connecting Europe with northern Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and the IPS/UPS system of CIS countries. The system would unify super grid and smart grid capabilities into a comprehensive network...
- Wind power in MoroccoWind power in MoroccoWind power in Morocco amounts to an installed production capacity of 275 MW and 800 MW under construction. -Realised:# Tanger - Tanger Farm # Tanger - Dhar Sadane Farm...