The €573 billion plan to power Europe with sunlight from the Sahara, dubbed the Desertec Initiative, is gaining more support, but some believe it is merely a dream.
Supporters include a dozen finance and industrial firms mostly from Germany, with aims to supply the capital for the start-up fees. However, critics warn that there are many snares in the initiative such as the political instability of the Maghreb region, maintenance of the panels as sandstorms will pose a threat to the functioning of the installations, and water being taken from villages to clean the dust off solar mirrors.
“Sahara power for northern Europe is a mirage,” said Hermann Scheer, a member of the German Parliament and the head of the European Association for Renewable Energy. “Those behind the project know themselves that nothing will ever come out of this.”
Scheer, an architect of renewable energy policy in Germany, said the costs of Desertec were being played down and its technical capabilities overestimated. The project would need 20 or more efficient, direct-current cables each costing up to $1 billion to transmit electricity north beneath the Mediterranean.
Proponents say that North African countries that import most of their energy like Morocco and Tunisia could substantially benefit from Desertec.
And while many are concerned with the political stability in the MENA region, Desertec noted on its website that, “In several MENA countries, political stability is endangered by political stagnation. But this is not universal and other countries, like Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are developing in a more positive way.” However, the border between Morocco and Algeria is shut and relations are poisoned by a dispute about the Western Sahara. Most recently, Algeria’s Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al Qaeda’s North African branch, began striking in areas that were previously considered safe zones. Projects such as the Trans-Sahara pipeline are threatened by potential insurgencies; wouldn’t Desertec be threatened as well?
Wolfram Lacher of the consultancy Control Risks said, “Security risks can be managed, but the project could become entangled in broader talks between the European Union and North Africa on energy, investment, and trade.”