Desertec Backs 2,000-Megawatt Tunisian Concentrating Solar Power Project

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Desertec Foundation (Munich, Germany) has endorsed Tunisia's 2,000-megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) plant project, which will be constructed in the Sahara Desert. Desertec is an umbrella project that will transmit solar and wind power from North African and Middle Eastern desert sites to Europe via high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) transmission to fulfill at least 15% of Europe's power needs by 2050.

The developer of the Tunisian project is Nur Energie (London, England), which will be joined by Tunisian partners led by Top Oilfield Services (Tunis). The project will be constructed in phases, with the first to start in 2014 and the first power produced and transmitted to Europe in 2016 through the HVDC line, which will incur low power loss. The project also has been designed to reduce water requirements to a minimum by using a dry, air-based cooling system.

The Desertec Foundation sees the TuNur project as a blueprint for the development of more wind and solar projects in the Sahara. The project will focus on maximizing local value creation and will provide Tunisia with the opportunity to start building a new industrial sector, which will bring investments, jobs and overall economic improvement.

The southern and interior regions of the country will be the major beneficiaries of the scheme, which gives the government the opportunity to make it a priority development.

Over the project's construction and operational phases, about 20,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created. In addition to supporting existing local management partners and local engineering companies, the project will create new manufacturing industries. Local manufacturers can supply the 825,000 flat plate mirrors and heliostats required for the project.

A site for TuNur has been identified, with long-term measurement of local solar radiation. An economically and technically viable cable route between Tunisia and Italy also has been identified. The Italian grid operator Terna S.p.A. (Rome) has offered an optimal landing point for the transmission line in central Italy.

Kevin Sara, Nur Energie's chief executive officer, said TuNur would be a blueprint for things to come. "We are used to transporting exhaustible fuels like oil and gas thousands of kilometers and then burning them close to our cities, with all the associated pollution problems and other risks to humans and the environment," he said. "Now, with the TuNur project, we are turning away from these polluting fuels to transmit clean and inexhaustible energy from the heart of the desert to European homes, whilst, at the same time, bringing jobs, economic development and export revenue to Tunisia."

For related information see December 19, 2011, article - Solar Energy Major Source in Algeria's 22,000 Megawatt Additional Renewables Target, and November 30, 2011, article - Giant Desertec Project Boosted by Medgrid Alliance.

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