Europe is decreasing its dependence on fossil fuels thanks to the abundance of the Mediterranean’s alternative fuel: sunlight.

By Ihsane El Kadi, Algiers

Europe hopes to take advantage of the launch of the Union pour la Méditerranée (UPM) to promote a project that has been discussed for long time in Brussels – the implementation of solar energy. The European Commission, which developed the declaration adopted in Paris by the 44 heads of state at the founding summit of the UPM on 13th July 2008, invited the future secretariat of this new collective to “explore the feasibility of developing a Mediterranean solar energy plan.” The reason is clearly explained: “our current dependence on oil and natural gas as energy sources carries immense risks with reduced production in the immediate future.” This preoccupation with the diversification of energy sources seems more present in industrialised countries rather than in developing ones. Since the severe crisis of the 2005 winter between Russia and Ukraine on the provision of natural gas, energy security became a priority shared by all members of the European Union (EU). The EU drafted a programme on renewable energies, going up to 2020 with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases. A plan is also being created to develop biofuels.

The German city of Aachen will have to be linked to the Algerian city of Adrar with a 3,000 km cable that will convey solar electricity. Christened “clean power from desert”, the 2 billion euro project is awaiting financing.Solar energy has caught the attention of industrialised countries

The UPM’s solar energy plan has not come about by chance. According to the German Space Agency, Algeria possesses the highest quantity of sunlight in its region: 169.44 terawatts per hour/year (TWH/y) of solar thermal energy and 13.9 TWH/y for solar photovoltaic energy. Morocco also has immense potential: 30% of this country’s surface area receives 2000 kWh of sunlight per m2. Villages in the south of Morocco have electricity thanks to solar energy (sparing them the need to join the national grid). Tunisia has formulated an installation programme of 55,000 m2 of solar panels, solar water heaters and air-conditioning systems. Experts affirm that solar energy is currently booming. This is why companies that manufacture the materials needed stand to come out on top. Take the French company Giordano, for example. A solar panel manufacturer, Giordano is well established in Tunisia. The willingness of Algeria and Egypt to build hybrid electrical plants that use solar power or natural gas has obliged several major European and American companies to compete aggressively. Algeria has started laying the foundation for a 180 megawatt hybrid plant in Hassi Rmel (in the South) which will use 100 metre-long solar panels spread across 44.5 acres. This investment will cost 150 million dollars. Additional plants are also to be built. Algeria aspires to produce 5% of its electricity using solar energy by 2015 and hopes to export a portion of this resource to Italy, Spain and Germany.

A 3,000 km cable for solar power

In early 2008, Algeria and Germany signed a cooperative agreement to develop solar energy and study the possibility of producing hydrogen using this energy as well as combustible batteries. The German city of Aachen will have to be linked to the Algerian city of Adrar with a 3,000 km cable that will convey solar electricity. Christened “clean power from desert”, the 2 billion euro project is awaiting financing. The cable, whose production potential will last as long as the sun itself, will be extremely lucrative. It is already attracting the attention of the Algerian firm, Sonatrach, as well as several German companies. Germany is the world’s second largest producer of solar-derived electricity after Japan and ahead of the United States. One can understand why the UPM’s project has been imposed by Berlin with the blessing of Lisbon, Madrid and Rome. Portugal is already building the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 11 megawatts. In Italy, the oil group, ENI, recently announced the creation of a solar energy research centre, which will be called the ENI Solar Frontiers Center, in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA). The objective? “To help create a world that is less dependent on fossil fuels,” explained a representative of the group