20110617
allafrica
It's not only environmental activists who have been cheered up by Germany, Switzerland and Italy's recent decisions to abandon nuclear power in future. The sustainable energy sector is also excited by the possibilities.



It's a shot in the arm for a massive project like Desertec, for instance, which involves using solar and wind power in the Sahara and the Middle East to generate electricity which can then be transported to households in Europe. Providing the Arab Spring doesn't throw a spanner in the works.

The figures and the ambitions are huge. They're talking about an investment of around 400 billion euros to build huge solar panels, mirrors and windmills in the desert. The aim is to meet 15 percent of Europe's energy needs by 2050.

Perfectly feasible

Paul van Son, Dutch CEO of the - originally German - Desertec Industrial Initiative, is enthusiastic about the nuclear climb-down:

"These decisions are good news for Desertec since they will result in an increased demand for sustainable energy. In the long-term sustainable energy will be all there is. Nuclear energy is unacceptable and fossil fuels will be exhausted. All the indications are unmistakable: the future will be about sustainable energy."

Energy expert Wim Turkenburg of the University of Utrecht agrees:

"It's an interesting idea and an ambitious plan. Technically it's perfectly feasible but an awful lot will have to be done before it can go ahead. It calls for a really huge investment. Apart from investing in the desert, special high voltage networks will have to be constructed. The price of the energy it will be able to provide is going to be very high, initially."

Retaliation

The costs are not the only obstacle. The political situation in the Arab countries Desertec will rely on for the realisation of the project is far from stable. Paul van Son comments:

"Well, we obviously can't do business with Libya right now, since it doesn't have a functional government yet. Once it has we'll be one of the first in line. We're not particularly worried about Morocco or Tunisia. The energy minister in Tunisia is still the same person, so we haven't really been affected."

Wim Turkenburg sees more snags:

"There's an intrinsic risk in projects involving these countries. It's politically unstable. A sensitive field like electricity generation could be used against you. If, for example, NATO were to send troops to one of these countries, the authorities there could easily retaliate by turning off the power supply."

500 megawatt

The way to make Desertec less vulnerable to political circumstances is to spread the risk, according to Turkenburg:

"The best approach would be a combination of projects. You could invest in wind and wave energy from the North Sea region, for example, so you're not dependent on North Africa alone. Or better still, a global project involving all the countries of the world." In a dreamy voice he adds: "But that's something for the future!"

A number of Arab countries already have solar power installations. Desertec aims to expand these projects and link them together. After that, they can be connected to the European grid. Desertec is currently involved in a large-scale 500 megawatt project in Morocco, in collaboration with the Moroccan government and a local agency. For purposes of comparison: the project will generate more electricity than Borssele, the Netherlands' only nuclear power plant