CAIRO: Many observers are hopeful that a nearly $600 billion project to build solar power stations in the deserts of North Africa will yield massive results by the end of this decade and years beyond. The Desertec Industrial Initiative is the globe's most ambitious project for alternative power and Europe is hopeful that it could supply more than 20 percent of its energy needs within 10 years. Now, some are wondering why Europe doesn't go for more than one-fifth of its energy needs. North Africa does get nearly twice as much sun as most of Europe, so the idea is not outlandish. The problem has been getting the project completely off the ground. Funding has been slow, but is now flowing and the initiative said it plans to start building its first plant by 2013. Alberto Gustav, a Spanish energy expert working as a liaison between Europe and the Moroccan government, says that these initiatives should benefit “the home country before we can even think of taking it to the next level.” He warns that optimism is vital to the success of the project, but many are “getting ahead of themselves” in terms of reality. “We must understand that while Europe will benefit greatly from this initiative, it is a North African endeavor and it should benefit the people of North Africa first and foremost,” he told Bikya Masr via telephone from Madrid. The hope is that the solar project will supply the North African nation with at least 40 percent of its entire energy needs by harnessing the sun's power. Although current technology is not where the Moroccan government would like it to be, there are desert areas that are not being used and lay empty, “so why not establish something that can benefit the entire country?” a Moroccan government official said. The ministry of environment wrote in an April email to Bikya Masr that “Morocco gets around 3,000 hours of sunshine annually” so the idea is to use this to create energy that can be renewed and taken to homes. In previous conversations with ministry officials, they said that the massive endeavor will consist of five solar power stations each producing some 2,000 MW of electricity in the regions of Ouarzazate, Ain Bni Mathar, Foum al-Oued, Boujdour and Sebkhat Tah. In a public statement, the country's Minister of Energy Amina Benkhadra has said that this is “a bold but realistic project. We will guarantee all the technical and financial resources to make it succeed.” International financial institutions, such as the World Bank are currently in discussion with the Moroccan government on how they can help fund such an ambitious project. According to David Jones, a World Bank consultant on other major infrastructure projects in the Nile Basin and now working with Morocco on the solar project, said in Cairo that “we will be there every step of the way to ensure all precautions and all funding can be met to make it a reality. It could be a model for other nations to follow if successful.” Hammou Laamrani, former Project Coordinator at the International Development Research Center and an energy expert, in Cairo, said that Morocco is making it clear they want to lead the region in terms of alternative energy consumption. “For the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about what can be done and what is going to be done, but little had been done,” he began. “Now, however, we see that Morocco is taking advantage of what they have on the ground, meaning the sun.” Morocco sees the need to go alternative, both Laamrani and Said admit. As the only North African nation without its own oil production, the country needs to cut its reliance on foreign gas and oil imports that cost billions of dollars annually, Said said. Along with the World Bank, Morocco is seeking partnerships with the European Commission and the Desertec coalition of 13 energy and technology companies planning to create a renewable energy grid that crosses Africa in order to ship such energy to Europe. Laamrani said that if Desertec sees the potential output from the solar project, “there is no doubt they will be extremely excited to get on board.” He pointed to the fact that if Morocco can successfully create 40 percent of its energy by 2020 on solar power, “imagine if they threw in wind farms and other renewable resources? The country could really be moving forward and Europe will have to take notice.” Solar power is not new to Morocco, with one station already functioning in Tangiers off solar panels and another near Tarfaya. The country is also looking to establish a number of wind farms along the Atlantic coast in an effort to immediately trim its energy costs. There are worries, however, Said said, that with corruption high in the country “it may be hard to convince international donors to give large sums of money without certain guarantees.” He said that already the World Bank is looking at a way of creating a network with Europe on the development of this project. “We are not excited about the fact that they want to give Europe portions of our power, but if we are successful with these five plants in the next decade, there is no reason to think we can't build more,” he said, adding that solar technology continues to improve and by 2020 his government believes it will be more efficient and cost-effective. While it might be too early to begin praising the effort, Laamrani said caution should be had at the present moment. “Let us not get ahead of ourselves before we see some results and what these plants can do. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't optimistic,” he added. BM
