Europe's Saharan solar dream edges closer to reality

Ambitious plans to generate up to 15 per cent of Europe's electricity using giant solar farms in North Africa and the Middle East moved a step forward today, with the announcement that the coalition of firms behind the proposals has formally launched a new joint venture to manage the project.

The Desertec Group of 12 companies, including Deutsche Bank, E.ON, Munich Re, RWE, Siemens, as well as a raft of solar energy firms, today signed a deal to create Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) GmbH, a limited liability company tasked with undertaking the groundwork for the project.

The Desertec project was unveiled earlier this year and aims to generate up to 100GW of solar thermal power using a string of solar farms across the Middle East and North Africa. The energy would then be used across the region, as well as being transmitted into Europe using high-voltage DC cables.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Michael Straub of the Desertec Foundation said that over the next three years DII would work on rolling out demonstration projects, developing a detailed plan for realising the goal of generating 100GW of solar power, and lobbying to create a legal framework for the cross-border infrastructure.

He said the company will be headquartered in Munich and has a budget of €1.8m a year already assigned up to 2012. But he added that additional investment is likely once DII's various projects get underway. "We are planning to add members to Desertec, particularly from North Africa and the Middle East, and there is capacity to expand the funding for DII as required," he explained.

Energy industry veteran Paul van Son, who previously worked as managing director of German energy firm Deutsche Essent and Dutch company Econcern, has been appointed as chief executive of DII.

He said the new company would now work at laying the groundwork for the wide-ranging project, adding that the aim was to get working solar farms in place as swiftly as possible. "We recognise and strongly support the Desertec vision as a pivotal part of the transition to a sustainable energy supply in the Middle East and North African countries, and Europe," he said. "The time has come to turn this vision into reality."