Energie solaire au Sahara : faisable à quel délai?

L’UE et ses pays partenaires nord-africains devraient jeter les bases réglementaires nécessaires au développement de l’énergie solaire en vue de proposer un cadre fiable et à long terme pour les investisseurs potentiels des deux côtés de la Méditerranée, écrit Eberhard Rhein, conférencier à la Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies de Malte, dans un message posté en juin sur Blogactiv.

« For Europe, the Mediterranean and the Sahara desert offer ideal conditions » for development as « solar thermal technology is best suited for large-scale electricity generation in regions with intensive sunshine throughout the year, » writes Rhein.

« There is more than plenty of sunshine and empty space, » he says. « A tiny area of less than 35,000 km² would suffice to supply Europe and North Africa with electricity. »

Nevertheless, « like any new technology, solar thermal power generation poses technical, economic and political problems, » he explains.

Technically, « electricity cannot be stored » and « the thermal impact of solar radiation » is lower in winter when electricity is most needed, he explains. Moreover, « the risk of sand storms […] may temporarily disturb power generation and even damage the mirrors ». 

But, « the single biggest problem is the transmission of electricity over distances of 2000-3000 km, » as transmission losses related to distance generate costs and delay amortisation of investments, Rhein explains.

« Economically, the only real issue is competitiveness, » he says.

« Politically, the newly created ‘Union for the Mediterranean’ puts the joint development of renewable energies among its top priorities, » he writes.

A European consortium, to be formally launched on 13 July, will be « prepared to massively invest in solar thermal power in the Mediterranean, » the blogger predicts.

« In the first stage, the consortium should focus on the North African market and build several 100-200 MW power plants, say in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, in partnership with local energy companies, » he writes.

But « it is unlikely for Europe to be supplied with significant volumes of solar electricity from North Africa before 2020, » he explains. « Nothing would be worse than to rush ahead half-prepared, » he insists.

« Indeed, very long lead times are necessary to put in place the new technologies required for transforming our conventional energy supply, whether the transition to non-fossil power generation or the conversion of automobiles from combustion to electric engines, » Rhein concludes.