Desertec

Desertec (Often: DESERTEC) is a non-profit foundation aimed at sustainably and ecologically producing electricity in sunny regions of the world. Sunny deserts are therefore the focus. The energy is intended to be used locally, but also exported to industrial regions, e.g., by means of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC). Energy partnerships are intended to enable development prospects.

The concept for energy supply was developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), an international network of politicians, scientists, and economists. The Desertec Foundation emerged from this network and is a non-profit organization.

Several scientific studies, including those from the German DLR, suggest that the concept is feasible and can provide ecological and economic benefits for both Europe and Africa. However, photovoltaic and solar thermal power plants were not economically able to compete with fossil fuels locally or in Europe in the early 2010s, causing delays in the project's implementation.

After the price of solar thermal power plants and photovoltaics dropped significantly, initial pilot projects such as the Ouarzazate Power Plant (Al Noor Project, Morocco) and the Benban Solar Park (Egypt) were built.

History of DESERTEC Foundation

Concept Development by TREC (2003-2008)

DESERTEC was developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), a voluntary organisation founded in 2003 by the Club of Rome and the National Energy Research Center Jordan, made up of scientists and experts from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EU-MENA). It is from this network that the DESERTEC Foundation later emerged as a non-profit organisation and started to promote their solutions around the world. Founding members of the foundation are the German Association of the Club of Rome, members of the network of scientists TREC as well as committed private supporters and long-time promoters of the DESERTEC idea. In 2009, the DESERTEC Foundation founded the Munich-based industrial initiative together with partners from the industrial and finance sectors. It aims to accelerate the implementation of the DESERTEC Concept in the focus region EU-MENA.

Scientific studies done by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) between 2004 and 2007 demonstrated that the desert sun could meet rising power demand in the MENA region while also helping to power Europe, reduce carbon emissions across the EU-MENA region and power desalination plants to provide freshwater to the MENA region. Dii published a further study called Desert Power 2050 in June 2012. It found that the MENA region would be able to meet its needs for power with renewable energy, while exporting its excess power to create an export industry with an annual volume of more than €60 billion. Meanwhile, by importing desert power, Europe could save around 30 pounds/MW.

The DESERTEC concept originated from Dr Gerhard Knies, a German particle physicist and founder of the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) network of researchers. In 1986, in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, he was searching for a potential alternative source of clean energy and arrived at a conclusion: in six hours, the world's deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes in a year. The DESERTEC concept was developed further by TREC – an international network of scientists, experts and politicians from the field of renewable energies – founded in 2003 by the Club of Rome and the National Energy Research Center Jordan. One of the most famous members was Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. In 2009, TREC emerged to the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation.

Founding and restructuring (2009-2014)

The DESERTEC Foundation was founded in 2009 to communicate the DESERTEC concept to the public and connect decision-makers from science, politics, and business. In the same year, the Desertec Foundation and 12 partners established the private initiative Dii, with the goal of meeting 15% of Europe's electricity demand through solar power from North Africa. In 2010 the DESERTEC University Network was established to encourage knowledge transfer between universities.

In 2012, a knowledge platform was launched to simplify international knowledge exchange and collaboration within the Desertec community. This project was funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU).

Projects have been considered in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

In Morocco, the state-owned "Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy" (MASEN) is a project initiator, aimed at advancing Morocco's energy transition through pilot projects. MASEN was founded in 2010 and reached out to Desertec to plan initial pilot projects. Desertec was also in communication with Algerian politics. On December 9, 2011, during a meeting between Algeria and the EU in Brussels, the CEO of the Algerian state electricity company Sonelgaz – in the presence of Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi and EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger – signed a cooperation agreement. The focus of this strategic partnership is to strengthen and exchange technical expertise, seek means and ways to access foreign markets, and promote the joint development of renewable energies in Algeria and abroad. Despite the members from the private sector, the industrial initiative was unable to implement any projects, leading the Desertec Foundation to engage with the World Bank to carry out pilot projects, which, however, delayed the implementation. Most of the partners of the industrial initiative and the Desertec Foundation subsequently left the consortium. The industrial initiative was dissolved in its previous form. Three remaining partners and advisors of the industrial initiative then founded Dii-Desert Energy (see similar initiatives), which focuses more on consulting the energy industry on the Arabian Peninsula. The company has since been based in Dubai.

Various actors and observers attributed the delay to several factors. A key issue for the partners of the industrial initiative was the lack of a business case at the time, as solar thermal power plants and photovoltaics in the early 2010s could not compete with fossil power plants without government subsidies.

The Desertec Foundation criticized that joint energy partnerships between Europe and Africa have been possible for decades when it comes to fossil fuels. However, when it comes to renewable energy, concerns about supply security, terrorism targeting infrastructure, and political instability hinder the expansion of renewables: North Africa supplied 11-15% of Europe's gas consumption between 2005 and 2023 and remains one of Europe's main gas suppliers to this day.

There has never been a long-term interruption of gas supply due to terrorist attacks on pipelines, nor has Europe been cut off from supply for political reasons. Even during the Arab Spring, there were no interruptions in gas supply. In neither Morocco nor Tunisia has a terrorist group ever successfully targeted the energy infrastructure. Only in Algeria was there a significant attack on a gas field, which occurred in 2013 and blocked the Amenas facility for four days.

Despite large collaborations between Europe and North Africa in the fossil energy sector and support for the Desertec concept by North African politics, the implementation of the first pilot projects was delayed. Multiple media outlets in 2013 and 2014 considered this delay to be the failure of the project, even though preparations for the implementation of a pilot project were still ongoing, and these soon resulted in the commencement of pilot plant construction.

Implementation of first pilot projects (2014-2023)

To implement the first pilot projects, the Desertec Foundation increasingly focused on networking local political stakeholders with funding banks. Under the leadership of the World Bank, which established a funding program for the implementation of solar thermal energy in North Africa, construction of the Al Noor power plant complex in Ouarzazate, Morocco, began in 2013, with the first phase completed in 2016. The project was expanded in several stages, which were completed in 2018.

In Egypt, the construction of the [Benban Solar Park] began in 2018, funded by BayernLB and the Arab African International Bank. The project was completed in 2019 and is one of the largest solar parks in the world.

In 2020, the Desertec Foundation published a study on the feasibility of a power line from North Africa to Europe (see Desertec studies). The results of the study were promoted in discussions with Italian and Tunisian decision-makers. On June 16, 2022, the Desertec Foundation initiated an energy symposium in Rome with the Senator of Sicily, Pietro Lorefice, where decision-makers from politics, business, and science gathered.