Desertec on the Ropes: Competitors and Opponents Threaten Energy Plan

Spiegel Online International reported that the ambitious Desertec plan to supply Europe with solar power from the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East seems to have stalled on April 2013. It could be facing even greater problems as competitors arise and local opposition mounts.

Desertec is primarily an idea out of the back room of the Club of Rome, that body of mostly old men who ponder how to save the world. Their bold plan envisions generating green solar energy in one of the world's sunniest locations and then piping it through a Mediterranean super-grid to energy-hungry European countries. The deserted Sahara could supply energy to densely settled Europe.

On the 31 May 2013, EurActiv reported that The Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) has abandoned its strategy to export solar power generated from the Sahara to Europe, killing hopes of boosting the continent’s share of renewable electricity with cheap external supplies.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: First steps to bring Saharan solar to Europe http://www.europeansources.info/record/first-steps-to-bring-saharan-solar-to-europe/

ESO: Background information: Commission welcomes Desertec and Medgrid cooperation on solar energy in North Africa and the Middle East http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-commission-welcomes-desertec-and-medgrid-cooperation-on-solar-energy-in-north-africa-and-the-middle-east/

EurActiv, 31.05.13: Desertec abandons Sahara solar power export dream http://www.euractiv.com/energy/desertec-abandons-sahara-solar-p-news-528151

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