$550 billion solar farm in the Sahara
Last week came word that a number of German industrial and financial giants, including Siemens (SI) and Deutsche Bank (DB), are planning a massive solar farm to be built in the North African desert. The farm would supply roughly 15 percent of Europe's power requirements. Power would flow through cables under the Mediterranean and into the European grid. The kicker on all this? The farm would rely on a technology called Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) that involves using mirrors to collect and redirect the heat of the sun into a small beam that heats up a container of liquid (oil or water). Does this $550 billion plan signify a turning point with the world moving away from standard photovoltaic arrays that use silicon to produce energy and towards CSP?
The ambitious plan is being spearheaded by the DESERTEC Foundation, an organization founded to shepherd the massive solar effort. Already 12 major companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII). The MOU is the first step in the initiative which remains in the very early stages. Signers included insurer Munich Re, Deutsche Bank, solar photovoltaic panel giant SCHOTT Solar, utility giant E.ON, and industrial conglomerate Siemens.
The choice of CSP over traditional panels is instructive. Unlike PV arrays, CSP installations can continue to produce power for a number of hours after the Sun has gone down. That's because its fairly easy to insulate hot liquids, thus conserving the generating power of the installation. And because CSP plants rely on heat to turn turbines, in a pinch standard fossil fuels can be used to generate power and ensure an uninterrupted supply -- something that is considered a major problem with photovoltaic systems. Also, CSP systems are not reliant on the supply of fluctuating commodities such as silicon and can be built without the use of toxic materials such as cadmium telluride, a heavy metal that is a key ingredient in many of the emerging thin-film photovoltaic panel technologies.
The logic behind putting this plant in the desert is simple. The Sahara is vast and empty. Yet it captures enormous solar energy -- far more than even could be captured in the sunny confines of Southern Italy, Greece or Spain. According to DESERTEC's website, the solar farm will cover 16,900 kilometers in the the North African desert. That might seem like a huge amount of land but its actually only a small portion of the Sahara.
While political instability could be a concern, a number of North African nations, including Tunisia, appear to be interested. And the economic benefits of the plants could prove a much more powerful benefit to North Africa than the oil wealth of the Middle East to the South. In theory, the plants would not only provide power to Europe but would also provide hundreds of thousands of new green jobs in Africa and Europe. Another key goal is to use the power to run massive desalination plants, addressing a key need of the region and potential allowing for a significant expansion of power in North Africa.
CSP is rapidly gaining speed and ground on photovoltaics. According to consulting company Emerging Energy Research, there are already 480 megawatts (mw) of CSP installed as of early 2009 with another 800 mw under construction. Over the next five years that will soar to roughly 15 gigawatts of CSP production capacity. That's a small chunk of the entire segments and industry analysts emphasize that CSP will be dwarfed by standard photovoltaic technologies for some time to come. That being said, its quite possible that they were not counting on projects such as DESSERTEC or other massive initiatives that could make utility-scale CSP a far more dominant force in the fast growing renewable energy space.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-20-2009 @ 8:20PM
Paul Travis said...
Brilliant!!! Solar power in the desert, now we're getting creative! Let's get off the fossil fuels now!
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7-21-2009 @ 4:57AM
the spoiler said...
This is a great idea but I betcha' big oil will find a way to shoot it down if America gets any ideas like this
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7-20-2009 @ 8:56PM
tim said...
This is a proven great idea. BUT a huge problem is that it is only for the power companies to create the energy. Therefore it locks out the consumer from creating their own power. Keeping the consumer locked into the power grid so if there is a problem with the grid you are out of luck. The key for financial and power independance is to help make the people in charge of their power. Work on simplifying the process for homeowners.
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7-20-2009 @ 9:09PM
chester said...
When will the US use our desert in the west as a place to
make power, this is wast land, nothing is out ther but sand
,,,,,,,it could help states such as Calf, AZ, Nv. ,,,
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7-21-2009 @ 9:32AM
scott said...
You're right Chester, but the answer is simple. Environmental groups will not let wind, solar, or nuclear be built.
- Nuclear produces waste that needs to be stored.
- Solar plants in the desert will ruin the desert and harm wildlife
- Windmills have shown to adversely impact the sonar of bats and many die
- Both's major sources (Desert, Great Plains) are located far away from the country's major population centers and environmentalists protest the vast transmission lines that would need to be built to carry electricity to consumers.
So, no power source is good. I guess we are supposed to live in the dark.
7-20-2009 @ 9:39PM
Amey said...
I agree with chester. I think that's a great idea for a follow-up story -- why aren't there more large-scale solar projects in the U.S. Alex?
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7-20-2009 @ 9:59PM
Dean said...
CSP projects in the US are alive and well...check this out:
http://www.emerging-energy.com/user/category_docs.aspx?l1=6&catid=NorthAmericaSolarPowerAdvisory613093534&docid=/user/NorthAmericaSolarPowerAdvisory613093534_reg/NAS615-090706USCSPProjectsProliferateOutsideCA.pdf&cattype=AdvisoryServices
7-20-2009 @ 9:57PM
Doug said...
"the solar farm will cover 16,900 kilometers in the the North African desert. "********* I hope they have to do environmental studies before they destroy some eco system.
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7-20-2009 @ 10:10PM
Alex Salkever said...
Actually, there are some utility scale CSP projects on the boards for California.
http://social.csptoday.com/content/cogentrix-energy-completes-solar-acquisition
One also in West Texas.
But NOTHING like this.
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7-20-2009 @ 10:22PM
Actionhero said...
I hope we study this closely, and that it works. Let's get the bugs out first before we burn all the oil platforms and coal mines.
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7-20-2009 @ 10:56PM
steve said...
That is really nice, but what happens when it gets dark? That is alot of wasted space in the dark. Plus, France is smart enough to get most of their electricity from nuclear power which doesn't care if it is light of dark. Solar power will always be relegated to homes and sunny regions for daytime power. If every house had solar panels they would need much less power from the grid. And yes, let's give the Islamic world even more power over energy.
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7-20-2009 @ 11:09PM
Yon said...
Brilliant! We get rid of Arab oil and switch to Algerian territory supplying Europe's electricity. Needless to say, Algeria is a militant Islamic country who will have absolutely no qualms, being their record, to cut off the juice if any Euro country does something offensive. And Islamists are easy to offend... like breathing while not being Moslem? France is now 80% nuke powered and supplying neighboring countries. France won't like this scheme.
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7-20-2009 @ 11:49PM
Ron said...
Three or four of these in America and we can get about 50% of our energy from this. Even if it cost 3 or 4 trillion dollars we would get that back in about 3 to four decades. And no money sent to the towelheads so they can use it to kill us. Makes great sense,so don't expect it here.
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7-21-2009 @ 12:16AM
Annee said...
LOL. This is NOT a new idea. Anybody ever heard of the "parabolic curve"? An example - the satellite dish. Gathers transmission rays and concentrates them in the middle. Same principle. Ever see a mirror array set to melt ice on a sidewalk? 40 years ago I saw one at a ski resort.
Since Europe has NO energy reserves at all, they must be desperate. Question - how will they keep the Islamic attack dogs from disrupting their little plan? North Africa is a hotbed of radical groups.
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7-21-2009 @ 12:16AM
annee said...
One more thing. What's going to happen to all the migrating birds as wind turbines chop them to pieces?
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7-21-2009 @ 12:39AM
jwoodb2 said...
annee..wind turbines? Chopped birds??? This is about csp in the desert. And for the realists in the crowd, how do they plan on controlling the killer winds and devastatingly abrasive sands? Lot of issues to solve for. Nice idea but still has a long way to go to solve for the environmental conditions. This takes some very good planning and engineering. Not a shoot from the lip project.
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7-21-2009 @ 5:08AM
Richard said...
I envision a windmill in every house/bldg instead of a TV tower, as in yesteryear. A generator in every house to supply light as well as heat. No Electric Bills.
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7-21-2009 @ 5:38AM
Bill Drew said...
This is the same brilliance that discovered Oil in the Middle-East & Russia. Yeah, invest Hundreds of Billions from Your treasuries and build Your power infrastructure in a Foreign Land; Ruled by Despots & Thugs. Once the money is spent, the project is completed and you are Dependent on it; they will Nationalize and Seize the facilities. They will have you alter your Foreign Policies toward them and their corrupt partners, along with the now very excessive fee they will force you to pay for the energy; or face having the switch shut-off. Sound Familiar.
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7-21-2009 @ 7:59AM
marigwanna420 said...
what is soooooo stupid to me is the fact that we have the technology to completely get off fossil fuels..... we have the technology to shut down every last coal burning power plant..... instead of putting the recovery money to good use, we built unneeded bridges and gave most of it to the same businesses that got the country where it is..... now they are claiming to be making billions in profit... well no kidding, we just gave you billions....... wind turbines make power through the wind.... we also have turbines that are similar that go in the bottom of the water in places with nice strong currents...... lets harness the awesome, non stop, predictable currents of the ocean..... oh yea here is another one..... stop putting up those old school wind mills that can only grab wind in 2 directions..... instead set up some multi direction mills..... they have small multidirection mills that can be mounted on houses with no problem..... why didnt we spend our money on that? why not invest in a maglev wind turbine?? China is starting to build one. dont know what it is??? look it up its quite the cool concept.... a nuclear power plant can power roughly 100,000 homes.... the maglev wind turbine can power 750,000 homes..... hmmmmm thats a tough decision
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7-21-2009 @ 8:49AM
FOXYLYNX said...
MAJOR CONCERNS: HUGH COST AND LOCATION IS UNSTABLE. THEY WOULD BE BETTER OFF BUILDING NUCLEAR ON THEIR OWN SOIL AND NOT DEPENDANT ON FAR OFF LANDS.
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