The Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) seems to be moving along with more investors climbing onboard, but there is one obstacle that remains in order to provide solar to Europe and North Africa via the Sahara.
Transmission lines will need to be established in order to execute the largest ever, once completed, renewable energy power scheme. The group has decided to use high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines to transfer power without losing a great deal of energy along the way. And the first North African country to get the initiative off the ground is Morocco, mainly because of its already established transmission lines to Europe.
And although Desertec executives continue to claim the power project’s progression despite the turmoil resulting from the Arab Spring, there are other contradictory reports. Tunisia’s TunNur has signed onto DII, but Forbes reported that its COO Dr. Till Stenzel said that receiving approval for project implementation has been delayed because of the country’s young, post-revolution government. The news agency said, “With surveys complete, TuNur knows when and how to lay the lines, set modular sections, but approval from Tunis has slowed the project down, possibly moving completion from 2016 to 2017.”
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