Eco blog

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

EU Looks Up to Sahara’s Massive Solar Project for its Energy Needs.

The Sun is rising in political spheres! Valuing the sun as renewable source of clean solar power, the EU super grid gets a crucial political backing from UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It is jointly decided now that the vast desert of Sahara would be the land where dozens of solar farms will be constructed as a part of the $71 Billion EU super grid infrastructure. The latter is an initiative taken by the European Commission to meet the continent’s electricity demands in future. The clean power generated by this super grid will be shared by all the EU countries.

It is projected that each farm of the super grid will generate up to 200 Megawatts of power. This would then be transferred to EU states via high voltage DC transmission, which is a better option over AC lines. The energy loss incurred over long distances is much lesser when DC lines are used. The decision to build solar panels in Sahara originates from the simple fact that the desert receives intense sunlight throughout year which can be effectively harnessed.

According to an estimate Photovoltaic panels installed in Sahara will be 3 times more energy efficient (in terms of electricity generation) than those fitted in the European countries. The project’s success will effectively reconfirm that solar power will be the most potent among renewable energy sources which also include wind and geothermal powers.

Labels: Desert, Energy Needs, Environment, EU, EU Supergrid

posted by Hadson @ 8:08 PM