“Desertec is a vision, and should be seen as such,” said an attendee at a roundtable discussion regarding Mediterranean solar power system initiatives and Egypt’s potential response held by the Egyptian German Joint Committee on Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Environmental Protection (JCEE) in Cairo on October 14.
The Desertec Initiative continues to be the talk of the town – for right now. However, the concept to build solar projects in the Sahara desert has been around for years. The Desertec Initiative which proposes using the Sahara to generate enough energy that could, as some analysts say, power Europe, has many big names onboard such as German reinsurer Munich Re, Siemens, E.ON, and RWE. The project could generate over 240,000 jobs for the German employment market, as announced by Alternative Energy Africa on July 3 (Sahara Solar Project Could Heat up Job Market).
Yet, problems exist with the idea, mainly the technology – CSP or concentrated solar power. CSP utilizes mirrors to focus light on water pipes or boilers, generating superheated steam to operate the turbines of generators. Small CSP plants have produced power in California’s Mojave Desert since the 1980s, but they face a problem. According to a 2007 Department of Energy report, dry-cooled CSP plants take up more space, cost almost 10% more to build, and generate 5% less electricity. Given that solar power is competing with low-cost natural gas and coal-fired plants, power companies would naturally prefer to use wet-cooling systems. The reallocation of water from farming to power generation offers a lesson as the US faces water shortages. So how is Africa supposed to maintain this concept when water scarcity is even more prevalent?
CSP, heating a fluid that boils water to turn a turbine, uses four times as much water as a natural gas plant and twice as much as a coal or nuclear plant. Siemens engineer Mohamed El Mahdi stated at the roundtable meeting that one way to recycle the water necessary for the project would be to plant crops underneath the CSP mirrors. When water is used to clean the mirrors, it would drop off onto the plants which would be expected to grow at a faster rate due to some shade provided by the mirrors.
In addition, the technology capability and the required capital are also questioned. “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.
The roundtable discussion also had others questioning why solar photovoltaic (PV), which uses almost no water, wasn’t considered for the project. El Mahdi said that PV would only give power during peak times and doesn’t function after sunset. “PV cannot be used as a balancing power,” he said. So far, PV is not commercially feasible. Therefore, the key is in research and development in storage and regulation.
Until renewable energy costs can compare to conventional energy, RE continues to fall by the wayside, particularly in Egypt. And while the Desertec Initiative isn’t expected to really materialize until 2050, it is clear that certain issues need to be addressed with more research and development taking precedence.
Alternative Energy Africa is following Desertec closely. To read previous articles, please click the links below.
Signing of the Desertec Initiative Nears