Answers on reference projects
What is a Dii reference project?
At Dii, we speak of reference or joint projects. Such projects are not only important in demonstrating that renewable energies can be appropriately generated, transferred and sold, but also in rendering the abstract nature of the Desertec vision more tangible. All the potential technologies for producing and transporting power are already in use on a worldwide scale. Nevertheless, examples are needed to show investors that it is possible and practical in economic, technical and regulatory terms to generate energy in the desert and transport this power by crossing borders as far afield as Europe. Dii is therefore planning to offer two to three reference projects to tender. The first joint project will involve collaboration with MASEN, the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy. Further projects could ensue in Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.
The part played by Dii will vary depending on the nature of the collaboration agreed with the respective producing country.
In its role as facilitator, Dii can offer the following assistance:
- Developing a business plan
- Selecting suitable sites
- Supporting and conducting measurement campaigns
- Proposing a suitable mix of technologies
- Helping to develop the necessary legal and political frameworks, both locally and internationally
- Advising on questions of funding
- Facilitating access to international funds
- Identifying potential customers for the power produced, locally and internationally
- Facilitating transportation of the power to Europe
The reference projects are also designed, from the perspective of Dii, to mark the start of an industrial learning curve, enabling the technologies involved to become competitive in the medium term without the need for subsidies.
Where will the Dii reference projects be located?
Morocco is the priority at present, since an appropriate network is already in place between Morocco and Spain. In 2010, the Moroccan government announced an ambitious 2,000 MW solar programme to be realised by 2020, and for this purpose established the solar energy agency MASEN. By 2011 it had already invited international tenders for a solar thermal power project. Several of Dii's shareholders were shortlisted for the proposed power plant to be constructed in Ouarzazate.
The Dii reference project in collaboration with MASEN could prove to be a combination of solar thermal power plants and photovoltaics. Wind farms are fundamentally another component of the Desertec vision. They have not been considered by Dii in the first prospective project, since this is a technology which can be developed quite easily in Morocco without the encouragement of Dii. Following specification, invitation to tender and construction, the first available power from the joint Dii/MASEN project could be fed into the Moroccan and Spanish grids around 2014.
Dii has agreed with the Tunisian firm STEG Energies Renouvelables to conduct a feasibility study in Tunisia. Further reference projects are to be defined by the end of 2012.
Are storage technologies being used in the reference projects?
The utilisation of storage technologies in the reference projects will be reviewed locally on an individual basis, and depends on the requirements for baseload capacity, local demands for power and, in particular, the market value of standard services or availability in the evening and at night. The technological focus here is to find solutions which meet the demands of the credit services sector. Besides, new storage technologies are being investigated worldwide. The Max-Planck Society, an associated partner of Dii, is at present establishing a new Max-Planck Institute for research into chemical energy conversion (CEC).
