Regulatory Framework
EU policy and regulatory mechanisms to enable desert power
One of Dii’s objectives is to create a favourable regulatory environment in order to enable local off-take as well as export of desert power to Europe. The desired regulatory framework aims to mitigate the existing regulatory risks, to create the right conditions for a prompt implementation of renewable energy projects and to ensure a generation of revenues, sufficient to close the “financial gap” currently inherent to most renewable energy technologies. The EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources which could govern joint projects, provides an important legal framework for the integration of electricity generated of third countries into European energy markets. This mechanism offers a good basis for the development of initial pilot projects which aim to prove the feasibility of the Desertec vision. The main challenges in this area are the adaptation of existing regulation at the national, regional and international levels concerning power generation, cross-border transmission and the design of the relevant support mechanisms.
