Particularly well poised to supply solar modules to countries in the MENA region given that their thin film solar cells can withstand high temperatures and minimal water, First Solar already has a firm foot in the renewable door with a host of solar projects in various Gulf countries.

“Our extended dedication to Dii as a shareholder emphasizes First Solar’s commitment to the MENA region, where we see tremendous potential to build a sustainable market for solar power,” said Christopher Burghardt, First Solar’s Vice President of Business Development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“Dii is the ideal industrial initiative to bring power from the deserts into reality.”

“I am very proud that First Solar decided to increase its commitment to our initiative,” said Paul van Son, CEO of Dii, who added that with 3 gigawatts of solar energy projects in the pipeline, First Solar has what it takes to help realize the “Desertec vision” of creating an industrial scale renewable energy market by 2050.

A leading provider of industrial-scale photovoltaic plants, First Solar is also well-established in the Middle East.

In addition to a new office in Dubai, the company is building an office in Saudi Arabia and a 13 MW PV plant for Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) – the first phase of the USD 3.3 billion Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park that will eventually pump 1,000MW back into the United Arab Emirates’ national grid.

First Solar also erected a 5 MW PV system for the Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and even donated a small PV system to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, responding to press that claimed Desertec has lost track of its own goals following the recent launch of Desertec Saudi Arabia, the Desertec foundation pointed out the difference between it and Dii GmbH.

“Dii works particularly with German industry to create the conditions for projects in various countries in North Africa,” a recent press release emphasized.

“The DESERTEC Foundation,” on the other hand “is committed to the worldwide implementation of the DESERTEC Concept: a solution in the fight for a sustainable global energy policy and thus also for security, peace and social stability.”

“We support, advise and fight for the implementation of these solutions. Our objectives are clear and we believe in them!”

Photo Credit: boutmuet via Flickr

The post First Solar Takes on More Serious Desertec Role appeared first on Green Prophet.

Both Bosch and Siemens pulled out as well, further fanning skepticism. But All Africa reports that despite setbacks, solar energy is safe in Morocco, where the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) has secured $380 million for a 160MW CSP plant planned for the same region set aside for the Ourzazate plant.  

With few fossil fuel reserves to call their own, Morocco has long demonstrated its commitment to generating renewable energy.

In 2009 the government unveiled a plan to spend $9 billion on a total of 2 GW of solar energy by 2020, in addition to wind and biofuel projects.

Then in June, 2011, the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) signed a cooperation agreement with Masen to start working on projects that would allow Europe to benefit from Morocco’s solar. This agreement would have allowed Morocco to lean on Dii’s networking prowess for help with its own plans.

Given this history, it’s not so surprising that the media panicked when the Desertec initiative took a tumble, but it was premature to underestimate Morocco’s ability to sidestep obstacles in order to meet the country’s rising energy demand.

With backing from the European Investment Bank, the French Development Agency and Germany’s KfW added to existing support from the World Bank, European Union and the African Development bank, Masen has secured an initial $380 million that will allow the agency to honor its recent contact with Saudi’s ACWA Power to oversee a 160MW CSP plant in southern Morocco.

This falls short of the 1.04 billion euro necessary to reach completion, but it’s a start and it shows that Morocco is unwavering in its commitment to transform the country into a power producer.

With domestic energy demand on the rise and fossil fuel due to reach its peak, and global greenhouse gas emissions dangerously high, we really can’t imagine a saner alternative.

:: All Africa

Image of desert flower in Morocco, Shutterstock

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This year’s MENASOL on the 16th and 17th of May in Abu Dhabi, offers something even more special!

MENASOL is the annual meet-up of solar opinion leaders, experts and financing personnel that has grown by leaps and bounds each year with the burgeoning growth of  MENA region (Middle East & North Africa) solar and Desertec. The speakers list for MENASOL 2012 is a virtual who’s who of the critical mass of movers and shakers in clean solar energy for the 21st century.

Unlike the typical large unstructured expo, this unusual annual get together offers the solar industry the chance to meet and do business with potential connections directly, under one roof over 2 days in a solar market now developing rapidly in the MENA region.

On May 16th and 17th, Masdar, CSP Today and PV Insider are offering delegates the unique opportunity to visit both the Masdar City’s 10MW PV Plant, and Masdar’s first 100 MW solar project: Shams 1, which is ten times larger.

This is an opportunity to tour a solar project which is not just the largest parabolic trough power station in the MENA region – but among the largest  in the world.

It uses concentrated solar-thermal power technology, that drives a steam turbine with a solar-heated liquid.

The $600 million Shams 1 project is being built by Spain’s Abengoa Solar in the western region of Abu Dhabi. It is expected to be complete by August, and visits will be in mid May, through MENASOL2012 (16th and 17th May). It is jointly owned by Masdar (60 per cent), Total of France and Abengoa Solar.

For solar fans, this will be a thrilling chance to see this planet’s dazzling clean energy future up close. This stunning project’s 258,048 parabolic trough mirrors, 192 solar collector assembly loops, 768 solar collector assembly units, and 27,648 absorber pipes are what 21st century clean energy production will look like – if we’re lucky!

Powered by the blinding desert sun, Shams 1 will displace approximately 175,000 metric tonnes of CO2 each year, which is equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or removing 15,000 cars from Abu Dhabi roads.

Masdar’s other, smaller solar project, the 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power station at the edge of Masdar City, will also be on the tour agenda. Even this is the largest solar PV project built to date in the Middle East, and is expected to produce 17,500MWh of clean electricity annually.

Interestingly, it is solar PV, like Masdar’s second huge 100 MW project is to be, so it will be interesting to learn why Masdar is going with PV for its Nour 1 solar project.

Both site visits are being arranged in conjunction with MENASOL 2012, so seize the opportunity to visit these two landmark plants in Abu Dhabi.  To find out more info, visit the website: www.csptoday.com/menasol  or contact event organizer Max Crompton (max@csptoday.com)

Related:

Masdar’s first 100 MW solar project: Shams 1
Masdar Calls for Bids For A Second 100 MW Solar Project
China’s Suntech is Among Masdar’s Solar Bids for Nour 1

The post Tour One of the Largest Solar Thermal Projects on Earth at MENASOL 2012 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Right now hundreds of people are gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland making the same kind of noises about the security of our future as the suits at COP 17 – mostly aimless. In the meantime, real people are doing real work to confront the day-to-day challenges of climate change and energy poverty, including the folks at Desertec. One of the most progressive organizations of our time founded in 2009, the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) is slowly turning the Middle East and North African region into a serious solar powerhouse. Here is a roundup of the first four deals that make our energy future seem significantly more secure.

1. Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012

Desertec’s first link in the chain will be a 500 MW solar power project that will begin construction in Morocco at an estimated cost of $US 2.8 billion. ”Construction is to start in 2012,” Ernst Rauch of Munich Re, initiator of the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview. Electricity production is expected to start as early as 2014 but certainly no later than 2016.

2. Huge MedGrid Joins Giant Solar Desertec Plan

Desertec signed an agreement to strengthen co-operation with MedGrid, the other most ambitious renewable energy consortiums in the region that has as many as 20 Mediterranean countries studying how to export 5 GW of power to Europe which involves numerous technical, economic and institutional challenges. MedGrid’s CEO André Merlin said of the deal that, “The electrical interconnections are vital for the development of renewable energies in the Middle-East and Maghreb countries… I am therefore very pleased by the cooperation agreement signed today between Dii and Medgrid, and I sincerely thank the European authorities for their support.”

3. 3rd Desertec Deal Signed – Algerian Solar Will Ship to the EU

Algeria‘s state-owned Sonelgaz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dii to export solar energy developed their country. The 3rd such deal to date, Algeria has pledged to derive as much as 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, on which it is willing to spend a whopping $20 billion!

4. Tunisia Announces 4th Desertec Deal and 2 GW of Solar!

The 4th Desertec deal is also the most ambitious: Tunisia has recently announced that it will build the largest-ever solar plant in the world – for  2,000 MW of solar power. This project is six times the size of the largest solar CSP project ever built and over four times larger than the biggest power plant of any type in Tunisia, a 471 MW gas power plant. Susan reported earlier today, “The huge 2 GW TuNur Concentrating Solar-thermal Power (CSP) plant from the Mediterranean solar developer – and founding member of MedGrid – Nur Energie will produce solar power daytimes in the hot Tunisian sun using heliostats – mirrors mounted on steel poles reflecting sun into a receiver – and store some of the heat in molten salts, to use for further delivery of electric power by night.”

top 2 images via Desertec

More Desertec News:
Green Prophet at Desertec Conference in Cairo
World Bank to Fund Massive Grid Expansion to Link Desertec / Arab World
MENA is Fired Up For a Solar Boom

The post 4 Desertec Deals That Make Our Energy Future More Secure appeared first on Green Prophet.

Wow, the Desertec vision is barreling into realization! A clean energy future where the world’s deserts supply huge amounts of solar energy to the whole of humankind is truly becoming reality. Now the fourth Desertec project, by far the largest-ever solar plant in the world – for  2,000 MW of solar power – is to be built in Tunisia. The plant will produce twice the amount of power of an average nuclear power plant.

(Previous stories: Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012, then MedGrid joined up, providing the transmission needed, with the plan to export up to 5GW of renewable power by cable under the Mediterranean between North Africa and Europe as early as 2020, and then most recently, the 3rd Desertec Deal Signed – Algerian Solar.)

How huge will this solar project be? 2,000 MW (2 GW) is six times the size of the largest solar CSP project ever built worldwide at 354 MW, and over four times larger than the biggest power plant of any type in Tunisia, a 471 MW gas power plant. 1,000 megawatts (MW) equals 1 gigawatt (GW).

The huge 2 GW TuNur Concentrating Solar-thermal Power (CSP) plant from the Mediterranean solar developer – and founding member of MedGrid – Nur Energie will produce solar power daytimes in the hot Tunisian sun using heliostats – mirrors mounted on steel poles reflecting sun into a receiver – and store some of the heat in molten salts, to use for further delivery of electric power by night. (Solar thermal uses steam-driven turbines like coal or gas plants. But sunlight, a free and clean fuel heats the water for steam.)

Like the other desert nations who will be part of the Desertec project, Tunisia has three times the solar insulation of Europe. Nur Energie has identified the site in Tunisia, made long-term measurements of the solar radiation there, and identified an economically and technically viable cable route between Tunisia and Italy, and, just recently, negotiated a 2000 MW grid connection offer from an Italian grid operator, at an optimal landing point in central Italy. The transmission is a key element.

The power will be shipped across the sea to Europe via special high voltage, direct current transmission (HVDC) cables, which lose only around 3% of the electricity they carry per 1,000km, much more efficient than AC cables.

From Desertec’s very beginning in 1986, when the originator of this vision, Gerhard Knies, a German particle physicist, estimated how much intense desert solar power it would take to meet humanity’s entire demand for electricity, the grid was key.

He concluded that because of the distances needed to cross the water from the sunny desert regions of the world to the high population areas, it would mean that the usual AC transmission would need to be swapped out for HVDC.

Speaking generally (not of its own clean energy projects) Nur Energie’s CEO Kevin Sara says,”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 our environment”.

Nur Energie is a  DESERTEC Foundation and Dii partner, and a founding member of MedGrid – the second Desertec connection made – for transmission.

“Now, with the TuNur project”, continues Sara, “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.”

Nur Energie is an independent solar project developer already active in the Mediterranean, developing both PV and CSP solar, in France, Greece, Tunisia and Morocco. It will manufacture the heliostats locally, building 825,000 flat plate mirror and steel heliostats in Tunisia itself. The TuNur will benefit Tunisia by creating as many as 20,000 jobs and spurring investments in local education to aid the long term management of the plants after 2016.

And if any European nation has not yet signed up for this carbon-free fuel of the future, Still Stenzel, the CEO of TurNur has this offer. “We welcome additional participation from any companies and governments interested in importing clean, solar power from Tunisia.”

Related:

Green Prophet at Desertec Conference in Cairo
Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012
World Bank to Fund Massive Grid Expansion To Link Desertec

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The huge and visionary Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) plan to ship vast amounts of solar to Europe has one glaring potential weakness. Dust. Deserts have all the sun that is needed to power vast cities, and recently, the 3rd Desertec deal was signed, but they also have dust. Lots of it. And little water to clean it.

Just one month’s dust accumulation in desert conditions can reduce a panels output by 35%, and some even warn that water-intensive CSP is impossible for desert solar.

So developing dust-resistant solar will be the next Big Thing.

Indeed, according to its German mirror manufacturer Flagsol, the water usage for cleaning the solar mirrors at Kuraymat – Egypt’s groundbreaking solar-gas hybrid power plant – is 39,000 litres a day. These are huge sun catcher machines. Each of the parabolic troughs is six meters tall (18 ft) and there are 6,000 of them.

Keeping solar panels or mirrors clean in the desert is the main challenge, according to Bodo Becker, the operations manager at Germany’s Flagsol, of its plants in the region Egypt. “Due to the dusty conditions, we are witnessing about 2% degradation every day in performance, so we need to clean them daily. We use about 39 cubic metres of demineralised water each day for cleaning across the whole site.”

Making matters worse is that, in addition to the dust that blows in from the desert, the relatively high humidity helps turn fine dust into a sort of crust. “It makes the dust stick,” says Lana el Chaar, an assistant professor in the electrical engineering department at Abu Dhabi’s Petroleum Institute. “Fans cannot blow it off.”

High tech researchers around the world are looking for solutions to the problem. Georgia Tech is working on one nanostructured superhydrophobic solution, but it is very expensive.

Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system (that we know of – yet!) and Boston University researchers are working on a Mars Mission inspired solution. But again: very expensive. Even German renewables giant Siemens in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s visionary Masdar have just broken into the sand resistant solar business, as noted by Green Prophet’s Taffline Laylin.

And last year, GlassPoint returned from the region with another dust-resistant solution: put the solar in a glass house. Of course, this is best for smaller solar installations.

But a chemicals spin-out from the University of Leeds Chamelic, that is in the business of making high-tech poymer coatings, may have just come out with a much more market-ready solution for utility-scale solar.

Chamelic has developed an ultra thin surface treatment that can just be applied to the routine wash, that can repel dust for up to 8 weeks.

Tested in the similar fine dust desert in Arizona, the coating – which leaves no residue – performed miracles.

Independent measurements found that 100% of the light was still reflected back from the mirrors after application. In simulated harsh desert conditions, with temperatures of 30 degrees Centigrade, in dust storms with wind speeds of between 20 and 40 miles an hour, untreated mirror surfaces lost over 9% of production. Chamelic solution, in a water base, lost less than 2%, and in an alcohol base, lost less than 1%.

The company is eagerly looking forward to a commercial solar plant trial in harsh desert conditions. Got dust? Flagsol – meet Chamelic!

::Flagsol
::Chamelic 

Related stories:

Masdar and Siemens Team Up to Develop Sand-Resistant Solar Panels
Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012
Martian Technology Proposed For Zapping Dust from Solar

The post Chamelic Invents Answer for Desert Solar & Dust! appeared first on Green Prophet.

Algiers will be the place to be for utility-scale solar developers this May. The German trade fair specialists Messe and their Algerian daughter company in Algiers will hold a solar trade fair at the Palais des Expositions d’Alger from 7 to 10 May, 2012. As one of three North African desert nations now at the forefront of responsible climate legislation, through its ambitious solar plans and its participation in the visionary Desertec project, Algeria is ideally situated to host the event.

Last year, Algeria announced the 3rd huge solar project for the planned Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) , making it the third nation to join a globally consequential project to ship huge amounts of clean energy across the Mediterranean to power the European grid with clean green solar power from the desert.

The first two DII projects are sited in neighboring Morocco: the first nation ever to be almost half-powered by solar and Egypt which was named last year as among the top nations for renewable investment potential.

What makes Algeria such a potent site for solar investment? Three things. An astonishing level of receptivity to renewable energy at the government level; rapid growth in domestic energy demand; plus unprecedented solar potential.

A scientific study of the German Aerospace Center on behalf of the German ministry of energy found that Algeria has a solar thermal potential of 169 Terawatt-hours a year and 13 Terawatt-hours a year of photoelectric energy.

Last year, Algeria announced a plan to invest more than $20 billion in renewable energy (mostly solar) over the next 20 years, at a rapid clip of about one gigawatt a year – every year from now till 2030 – for a total of 22 GW by 2030.

(For an idea of how ambitious this is, compare it with Dubai’s “ambition” to build 1 GW of solar by 2030!)

(Related: Dubai to Invest $3 Billion in 1,000 MW Solar Farm! …But Slowly)

A 12 to 10 split

Of the 22 GW, the Algerian government proposes to split the generation between domestic (12 GW) and export (10 GW) of solar energy to Europe, which, given the solar potential, is technically well within the range of the possible.

The Algerian Government says that the entire energy demand of Western Europe could be covered 60 times over with the solar energy potential of the Sahara desert, which crosses North African nations, including nearly all of Algeria.

Nordine Bouterfa, head of the Sonelgaz group, Algeria’s electric utility, told a press conference in November that, “By 2030, some 40 per cent of electricity production for national consumption will come from renewable energy.”

Algeria’s utility serves a fast-growing customer base that lurched 3.9% from 2007 to 2008. Currently, most of its electricity is produced through natural gas, and last year it pioneered a hybrid plant that boosts its gas-fired production with solar power by day.

Not only supplying domestic demand but also the export potential to Europe is huge because Algeria is right across the Mediterranean from Spain, and it has close ties to Europe historically as well. The Romans founded Algiers, the capital city in the 10th century, and it was briefly a French colony from 1830 till 1962.

Now, with a real commitment to solar development at the official level – that any American voter would envy! -Algeria is poised to make a significant contribution to the world’s future climate.

::electro, automation, & energy website

Related:

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Today, Desertec and Medgrid signed an agreement to strengthen co-operation on building renewable energy from the deserts and the huge grid to move the power. Desertec, which a mere few years ago was just an impractical vision of a chain of power plants in the North African sun to power 15% of Europe. Now known as Dii (Desertec Industrial Initiative), Desertec now has 56 partners in 15 countries and is already beginning the financing on the first solar power plant in the chain in solar-friendly Morocco.

(Related: Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar)

And the smaller but complementary grid development project MedGrid has looked at how to export up to 5GW of power to Europe and now has 20 Mediterranean basin companies studying the practical grid needs of such a giant task, looking at technical, economic and institutional feasibility.

(Related: Could Israel Join Arab Neighbors in Medgrid?)

Today, Dii and MedGrid announced that they have signed an agreement to strengthen their co-operation on the development of industrial-scale renewable energy from the deserts and a suitable transmission infrastructure.

Dii CEO Paul van Son said: “The long term development of renewable energy from the deserts would be neither thinkable without tight co-operation with local authorities and industries in MENA, nor without close collaboration between Medgrid and Dii. I am happy that the European Commission and national governments are looking beyond borders to support our plans.”

And MedGrid’s CEO André Merlin added:

“The electrical interconnections are vital for the development of renewable energies in the Middle-East and Maghreb countries; they will make possible the export of a share of renewable electricity from the Southern countries of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and thus contribute to their financing. I am therefore very pleased by the cooperation agreement signed today between Dii and Medgrid, and I sincerely thank the European authorities for their support.”

Image: Desertec/Dii CEO Paul van Son with the Vice Chairman of Egypt’s NREA (New and Renewable Energy Authority) comes by Green Prophet’s Tafline who was at the opening of the Kuraymat solar project in Egypt, one of the countries that will be involved.

Read more on Desertec and Medgrid: 
World Bank Funds Massive Grid Expansion to Link Desertec with Arab World
How the Middle East Can Coordinate A Sustainable Agenda
MENA Is Fired Up For A Solar Boom

The post Huge MedGrid Joins Giant Solar Desertec Plan appeared first on Green Prophet.

Just two years ago, Desertec was merely a pin prick of an idea conceived to tap into the desert’s vast energy solar and wind resources. Today it is a full fledged vision that has drawn scores of government representatives, investors, and other stakeholders from around the world to the second annual Dii conference in Cairo.

The conference venue – the Semiramis Hotel – overlooks the Nile River that is the lifeblood of so many countries. Outside the skies are heavy with pollution and the roads are as stuffed with cars as ever – a sure sign of how much this city relies on fossil fuels for its day to day function. But inside, there’s a semblance of hope that together Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East can pull off a cleaner future.

Already we’ve heard compelling presentations from Dr. Wolfgang von Geldern, Germany’s Secretary of State, who reinforced that country’s commitment to phase out nuclear power generation and invest in the Desertec initiative. “We have supported Desertec from the start,” he said, “and we will continue to do so.”

Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Energy, H.E. Dr. Hassan Younes, pictured above, said that the Egyptian government is formulating new laws that will promote transparency and incentives to invest in renewable sources of energy.

And Caio Koch-Weser, Vice Chairman of the Deutsche Bank Group, pointed out that in the next few decades, 3 billion people will be entering the middle class, adding to energy demands. He was unambiguous about the necessity to “use and produce energy more efficiently… and reduce our carbon footprint.”

The challenges ahead are sobering. Indeed, Dr. Mahmoud Eisa, the new Minister of Trade and Industry, said that “energy has always been at the forefront of our industrial struggle.” But the Dii initiative has amassed a strong group of focused individuals who recognize the enormous potential latent in North African desert countries.

More than 55 companies and institutions, including the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation, and the Frauenhofer and Max-Planck research institutes, are putting their heads together to find solutions, build capacity, empower local communities, share knowledge, and surmount challenges such as financing and long-distance transmission.

The 2nd Dii has only just started, but Paul van Son, CEO of Dii, expressed in his welcome speech hope that it will be “an inspirational conference.” So far, that’s exactly what it is.

::Desertec

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Green Prophet is heading across the desert to attend the second annual Dii Conference being held at the swanky Semiramis InterContinental Hotel in Cairo. Part of a concerted push to develop wind and solar energy in Africa and the Middle East, the Desertec conference being held on the 2nd and 3rd of November is one of the most important gatherings of its kind. This is an opportunity for business and government leaders from MENA and Europe to discuss the various opportunities and challenges associated with growing and exporting the desert’s numerous renewable energy resources.

The conference will be hosted by Egypt’s Prime Minister Dr. Essam Sharaf, who says that the Egyptian government “shall spare no effort to turn this international event into a real success.” Topics to be discussed include regulatory challenges associated with developing renewables (specifically Concentrated Solar Power, Photovoltaics, and Wind Power), success factors, challenges of long distance transmission, and renewables market integration. We will also attend a tour of the Kuraymat hybrid gas and solar energy plant on Friday November 4th, so come on by and introduce yourself!

More on Desertec:

Arab Spring May Boost Chance for Desertec Solar Power

Looks Like Desertec and Morocco’s Government May Join Hands

Next for MENA Nations: Desertec University

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