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STUTTGART, Germany, November 15, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
A collaboration of countries in Europe, the
Middle East and North Africa is needed to generate all of Europe’s
electricity from desert solar power by 2050.
“Sustainable power in Europe can be based to a great extent on
renewable generation including solar electricity import from the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA),” concludes a report from the
‘Trans-Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power’
commissioned by the German Environment and Nuclear Safety Ministry.
“A well balanced mix of renewable energy sources with fossil fuel
backup can provide affordable power capacity on demand.”
“Every year, each square kilometre of desert receives solar energy
equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil,” says study manager Franz
Trieb. “Multiplying by the area of deserts worldwide, this is nearly
a thousand times the entire current energy consumption of the
world.”
“We can tap in to this energy by using mirrors to concentrate
sunlight and create heat ... to raise steam and drive a generator in
the conventional way,” he adds. “This kind of ‘concentrating solar
power’ - which is very different from the better-known photovoltaic
solar panels - has been producing electricity successfully in
California for nearly 20 years.”
The TRANS-CSP study analysed the potential for green power
generation in 30 countries across Europe, and their capability to
provide firm capacity. The concept includes an interconnection of
electricity grids of Europe and MENA, and evaluates the potential
and benefits of solar power imports from desert regions south of
Europe.
The existing grid is not capable of transmitting large amounts of
power over long distances, and the report says a combination of
conventional AC grid and high voltage direct current (HVDC)
transmission technology would be used in a trans-European
electricity scheme based on renewables with backup from fossil
fuels.
“A well balanced mix of renewable energy sources backed by fossil
fuels can provide sustainable, competitive and secure electricity
for Europe,” the report concludes. “For the total region, our
scenario starts with a reported share of 20% renewable electricity
in the year 2000 and reaches 80% in 2050. An efficient backup
infrastructure will be necessary to complement the renewable
electricity mix, providing firm capacity on demand by
quickly-reacting gas-fired peaking plants, and by an efficient grid
infrastructure to distribute renewable electricity from the best
centres of production to the main centres of demand.”
If initiated immediately, the mix from renewables would lead to less
expensive power generation within 15 years, compared with a
business-as-usual strategy. Imported fuels would increasingly be
replaced by renewables, and the “negative socio-economic impacts of
fossil fuel price escalation can be reversed by 2020 if an adequate
political and legal framework is established at time.”
Feed-in tariffs in Germany and Spain are very effective instruments
for market introduction of renewables and, “if tariff additions are
subsequently reduced to zero, they can be considered a public
investment rather than a subsidy,” it adds. Electricity from CSP
stations in MENA countries would start by 2025 with annual
transmission of 60 TWh and increase to 700 TWh a year by 2050.
High solar irradiance in MENA and low transmission losses of 15 %
would yield a competitive import solar electricity cost of Euro 0.05
per kWh, and GHG emissions would be reduced to 25% of the emissions
in 2000. The total land required for solar facilities would be 1%,
equivalent to the land currently used for transport and mobility.
The cost to collect solar thermal energy is equivalent to US$50 per
barrel of oil now, less than the current world price, and will drop
to $20 in future, it speculates. For MENA countries, the concept
would allow desalination of water using the waste heat from CSP and
areas under solar mirrors are relatively cool and protected from the
harshness of direct tropical sunlight, allowing horticulture with
the desalinated water.
“European support for MENA for the market introduction of renewables
can attenuate the growing pressure on fossil fuel resources that
would otherwise result from the economic growth of this region, thus
helping indirectly to secure fossil fuel supply also in Europe,” the
report notes. “The necessary political process could be initiated by
a renewable energy partnership and a common free trade area for
renewable energies” in Europe and MENA countries.
“Contrary to what is commonly supposed, it is entirely feasible and
cost-effective to transmit solar electricity over long distances,”
adds Trieb. HVDC lines lose only 3% of power for each 1,000 km of
distance, and solar electricity could be imported to the UK with
only 10% loss compared with 50% to 70% in conventional coal-fired
stations.
“We have calculated that solar electricity imported to Europe would
be amongst the cheapest sources of electricity, and that includes
the cost of transmitting it,” he adds. “Supplies would be much less
vulnerable to interruption than are current imports of gas, oil and
uranium.”
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