Sign Into Environment 911Sahara Solar Power Plant to Fuel Europe
Solar power is the wave of the future, some say. It's true that many
nations are actively engaged in a search for viable alternative energy
sources, and it's also true that the technology that allows man to
harness the power of the sun has advanced quite a bit during the past
decade.
In many places, solar panels can't even begin to meet the energy needs
of a heavily populated area. Policymakers and enterprising businessmen
in the European Union, however, are looking to Sahara solar power as a
new, virtually untapped source of electricity. There's no better place
to harness sunlight than in a desert; the difficulty lies in the fact
that people don't often choose to live in such a harsh clime.
It's estimated that covering less than 10 percent of the vast Sahara
with solar panels would produce enough energy for the entire world.
Getting that energy to the end user is another story. The local people
of North Africa already use Sahara solar power for their energy needs,
but there is far more energy beating down upon those desert sands than
they can ever use. 
According to Gunther Oettinger, Europe's Energy Commissioner, the early stages of this expansive project will be bringing hundreds of megawatts of power to Europe within the next five years. As more projects reach completion and come online, that number is expected to reach well into the thousands.
One of those projects is the work of the Desertec consortium. A vast scheme with a 400 billion Euro price tag, the Desertec group includes some of Europe's biggest investors, including Deutsch Bank and Siemens.
This idea is far more than a business deal scaled up to continental proportions. The EU is already backing the construction of the new inter-connectors, and the harnessing of Sahara solar power will likely have some degree of government subsidization behind it.
Exactly what form those subsidies will take is unclear, because many of the details have yet to be hammered out. Desertec has only just begun its long job of covering almost 17,000 square kilometers of the desert with solar arrays, so specific business plans have yet to be revealed. The EU will likely be involved in regulation, diplomacy and studies on the feasibility of ongoing and future plans.
Importing solar power from the Sahara is not without its roadblocks, however. There is, of course, the age-old political issue of European powers exploiting the resources of Africa, a practice that has certainly caused a lot of strife in the past.
At least this is tempered by the fact that the countries of the Sahara region stand to benefit from these solar projects too. The energy is not all destined for Europe; some of it will stay at home to supply the needs of North Africans, and some will be exported to the Middle East.
A more immediate problem is the potential loss of significant amounts of power during the transmission process. The undersea conduits will need more study and experimentation before they are able to operate with maximum efficiency.
Environmental concerns have also been raised, questioning the true "greenness" of the Sahara project. Solar plants require substantial amounts of water for cleaning and cooling, and water is a rather scarce resource in the region. Local populations may find themselves vying with powerful corporations over a limited water supply.
It may also prove difficult to determine how much of the power is actually coming from the fossil fuel plants in North Africa instead of from the Saharan sun; once the electricity is on its way across the sea there's no easy way to tell. Despite these problems, energy leaders are optimistic. The Desertec consortium is in it for the long haul; their plans span the next twenty or thirty years. The Saharan solar project promises to be an unprecedented, rewarding and long term partnership between the EU and Africa.
Share
