On January 24th, 2012 the DESERTEC Foundation (Hamburg, Germany) announced plans for a 2 GW concentrating solar power (CSP) project in Tunisia, which will export electricity to Italy via undersea cables. Project developer Nur Energie Ltd. (London, U.K.) and local partners in Tunisia expect to begin the first phase of the project in 2014, with initial electricity exports in 2016.

DESERTEC has endorsed the TuNur project, and states that the project can potentially serve as a blueprint for the development of future wind and solar projects in North Africa's Sahara Desert.

"The project has been evaluated by a team of independent experts and, based on their review of the development work so far, it meets our criteria for an official DESERTEC Project," states DESERTEC Foundation Director Dr. Thiemo Gropp. "TuNur will benefit Tunisia by creating jobs and spurring investments in local education to aid the long term management of the plants after 2016."

"We will keep a close eye on developments to ensure the socio-economic benefits for Tunisians are maximized and that TuNur embodies the principles of the DESERTEC Concept. With this important first step, we are showing the world’s governments, industries and consumers that what many thought to be science fiction is actually science fact."

Project to create 20,000 jobs

Nur Energie's local partners will be led by Top Oilfield Services Company (Tunis, Tunisia). DESERTEC estimates that the project will create 20,000 jobs both directly and indirectly over the project's construction and operation period.

DESERTEC notes that the TuNur project has been designed to reduce water requirements by using an air-based cooling system, as opposed to a wet-cooling system. Water use is an important ecological consideration for desert sites, which represent the best locations for CSP projects.

Similar projects are currently underway in North Africa. The Desertec Industrial Initiative GmbH (Munich, Germany) states that it has begun the first reference projects in Morocco which should start producing power in 2014 and 2016, and has entered into industrial collaborations with Algerian state utility Sonelgaz Spa (Algiers, Algeria).

2012-01-26| Courtesy: DESERTEC Foundation | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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