More than 500 high-level government, industry, civil society and scientific representatives from 48 countries in the EUMENA region participated in the 3rd Dii DESERT ENERGY CONFERENCE from 7th-9th November 2012. It’s not without reason that the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin was selected as the conference venue. Almost one year ago, a broad majority in the German Bundestag passed the package of legislation that initiated the start of the German energy transition. Dii already showed this summer with its study “Desert Power 2050” that the rapid and large-scale expansion of renewable energies functions best when a power system is developed that is as large as possible. If the European, North African and Middle Eastern regions work together, the transition to wind and solar energy can be achieved on a considerably more cost effective basis than if each country were to develop its own wind and solar capacities individually.
How this could be done exactly was discussed during the conference in a total of ten high-level panels. Participants exchanged their views on the following topics: the necessary political support for international cooperation in the field of sustainable energy in desert regions, the regulatory challenges and technical means of transmitting electricity over long distances, solutions to market integration of renewable energy, and sustainable development and export opportunities for countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
For the second time this year, ten students were selected to receive the Desertec Best Paper Award at the conference. The award recognizes outstanding scientific achievements in the field of renewable energy. For the first time this year, Dii announced a fellowship which enabled five young journalists from North Africa and the Middle East to visit the conference. As in past years, many media representatives showed great interest in the current activities of Dii and the progress of the Desertec vision.
