Ambitious Solar Plan Could Provide EU with a Sixth of its Energy Needs
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 3.07
An ambitious scheme to build a number of solar power stations along the Mediterranean shores of the Middle East and northern Africa could generate enough electricity to supply one sixth of the European Union's needs. The generators, individually fitted with thousands of mirrors, would transmit the electricity by undersea cable to Europe, from which it would be distributed EU member states.
In addition, the stations, which could soon be capable of generating 100-MW, would be used as desalination facilities to provide desert countries with much-needed supplies of fresh water. The scheme, known as Desertec, was unveiled last week by Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal; it was developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Corporation and is being supported by countries throughout Africa and the Middle East.
"We don't make enough use of deserts. The sun beats down on them mercilessly during the day and heats the ground to tremendous temperatures. Then at night that heat is radiated back into the atmosphere. In other words, it is completely wasted. We need to stop that waste and exploit the vast amounts of energy that the sun beams down to us," said Gerhard Knies, co-founder of Desertec.
The project would rely on a technique called "concentrating solar power" (CSP) to generate electricity; a CSP station uses hundreds of huge mirrors covering a vast swathe of land to focus the sun's rays onto a central metal pillar filled with water. The super-hot water, which can reach temperatures as high as 800°C, is then vaporized and channelled off to drive turbines that produce the electricity.
But that's not all: the steam could then be piped through sea water tanks to boil and vaporize their contents - with the resulting steam being condensed and stored away as fresh water. "Our solar power plants will not only generate electricity that they can sell to Europe, they will supply drinkable water that will sustain their thirsty populations," said Knies.
The only major downside currently is the cost of running these plants - almost twice that of coal-powered plants - a problem Knies explains will be resolved in time as improvements in the technology help to bring expenses in line with conventional power plants. That and the fact that Desertec didn't exactly pick the most stable region of the world to implement its project.
Via ::Guardian Unlimited: How Africa's desert sun can bring Europe power (news website), ::AMERICAblog: Europe looking to North Africa and Middle East for energy, but... (blog)
See also: ::Ifo President: EU Energy Policy is Useless, ::Solar Thermal Power: Not Forgotten, ::Spanish Firm, Acciona Energy, Planning 200MW Solar Thermal Power Plant In The US
Sounds like a pretty good plan to me. It'll give North Africa and the Middle East something to export other than oil. I wonder whether or not EU politicians are all that keen on buying even more power from politically unstable regions though ...
Wonderful news. Sounds like a great plan to me. And it sounds like a great win-win for everyone everywhere. This would help the EU better secure its energy needs in an environmentally responsible way, and it helps North African countries diversify their economies into a field that creates more jobs, better jobs, and which will help those countries become more stable. This increased stability is not just good for those North African countries, it is also good for all of its neighbors. And an EU that is better able to meet its energy needs with clean energy and a more stable and properous North Africa, these are things that should positively influence, directly and indirectly, everyone everywhere.
The following comment is innacurate:
*******************************************
The super-hot water, which can reach temperatures as high as 800°C, is then vaporized and channelled off to drive turbines that produce the electricity.
******************************************
If I am mistaken, these power plants concentrate the solar heat to heat an oil which then heats water for electricity generation.
Older, more experimental solar thermal plants used oil, but most, if not all, new ones use water nowadays.