2008-07-16
Solar Millennium welcomes the solar energy plan of the newly-founded Union for the Mediterranean
Erlangen, 15.07.2008 The EU's Mediterranean policy gained a new dynamic on Sunday, with its newly-founded Mediterranean Union. With solar energy, the foundation conference has already set a priority in its programme of working towards international cooperation between the EU and its southern Mediterranean neighbors. Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, welcomes this goal of international cooperation in expanding solar energy, and sees enormous potential for solar-thermal power plants.
A total of 43 countries from Europe, Africa and the Middle East with about 780 million inhabitants joined the Mediterranean Union in Paris on Sunday. The common goal is a closer cooperation between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbors in North Africa and the Middle East. Building on its Mediterranean strategy to date (the so-called ‘Barcelona Process') the EU aims to make Mediterranean policy a central element of its foreign policy. The aim is to go beyond the loose partnership of conferences to a "union of projects", stated Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister.
In its closing statement, the Mediterranean Union clearly underpinned the necessity of using renewable energy resources. Its expansion is a crucial factor in achieving sustainable development. As a result, a solar energy plan has been placed on the list of key projects alongside the expansion of traffic infrastructure, education, environmental and natural disaster protection. The Mediterranean Solar Plan will be feasibility-tested, developed and created by the planned secretariat of the Mediterranean Union.
Solar Millennium AG welcomes this advancement of cooperation in the Mediterranean region: "The Mediterranean region offers huge potential for sustainable power generation from solar energy. Simultaneously, it is an opportunity for all participating states to promote wealth and to secure energy resources and political stability, by expanding on future industry", says Christian Beltle, CEO of Solar Millennium.
Solar thermal power plants in the Mediterranean Region point the way forward when it comes to solving important future issues like climate-change, access to drinking water and energy resources. "The technology is proven and is also suitable for the desalination of sea-water. Calculably, using solar power plants like these, less than 3% of the Sahara would be sufficient to cover worldwide power needs", adds Beltle. Andasol 1, the parabolic trough power plant in Andalusia in southern Spain - the first of its kind in Europe which is to be connected to the grid this year - conveys an impression of just how much potential for generating solar-thermal electricity lies in the sunny regions of the Earth. In operation, at a maximum capacity of 50 megawatts per year, about 180 gigawatt-hours of electricity will be generated, supplying up to 200,000 people with electricity. Solar Millennium is involved in the construction of further projects in Spain and Egypt.
There is no lack of vision when it comes to cooperation in the Mediterranean Union: at the end of 2007, the white paper "Clean Power from Deserts - The DESERTEC Concept for Energy, Water and Climate Security" was presented at the European Parliament in Brussels. The planned concept promotes the generation of electricity and its export to central Europe from the sun-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Based on studies by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), solar-thermal power plants could, by the middle of the century, generate double the amount of power produced by wind, photovoltaics, biomass and geothermics combined. By then, renewable energies could largely replace fossil fuels. Approximately 15% of Europe's electricity requirements could then be covered by importing solar energy from North Africa and the Middle East. However, the main priority is to provide these southern countries with their own sustainable source of energy.
Dr. Henner Gladen, Technology Director (CTO) of Solar Millennium, explains the economic advantages of such international cooperation. "We could generate 3 times the amount of solar energy in North Africa as here in Germany with the same investment sum. With adequate expansion of the power infrastructure, a mere 10% power-loss would take place on importing power to central Europe, thanks to so-called „high-voltage DC transmission". Importing power makes sense for Europe, and cooperation in the Mediterranean region leads to economic development and stability."
About Solar Millennium AG:
Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, is a globally active company in the renewable energy sector, with its main focus on solar thermal power plants. Together with its subsidiaries, Solar Millennium specializes in parabolic trough power plants - a reliable, proven technology in which the company is a worldwide leader. The company covers all major business sectors of the value-added chain for solar thermal power plants, from project development to technology and turn-key construction of power plants, to the operation and ownership of power plants. In Spain, Solar Millennium developed Europe's first ever parabolic trough power plants, two of which are already under construction. Further projects are planned with a capacity of several hundred Megawatts located worldwide, with the focus upon Spain, the USA, China and North Africa. The company is also developing solar chimney power plants, with the aim of making this technology ready for the market.
About the Andasol projects:
Solar Millennium initiated the Spanish parabolic trough power plants Andasol 1 through 3 and has completed the project development successfully. Andasol 1 has been in construction since 2006 and will be connected to the grid this year. Both sister projects will go into operation in 2009 and 2010 respectively. With the Andasol power plants, solar-thermal energy generation will be realized for the first time in Europe on a large-scale power plant level. The projects set an example in several ways. By using thermal storage, the power plants are able to make electricity available in a planned way - even at night - almost doubling the operating hours compared to solar power plants without storage. This creates new opportunities for solar energy usage. With the Andasol projects, the largest worldwide location for the use of solar energy is also at hand. Each of the 50-megawatt power plants has a collector area of over 510,000 square meters - that's the equivalent of over 70 soccer fields - and provides up to 200,000 people with solar energy. In summer, the Andasol power plants will also help to meet peaks in demand in the Spanish power grid, caused primarily by the high energy consumption of air conditioning units.
About solar thermal power plant technology:
Solar thermal power plants generate electricity using heat energy captured from solar radiation. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors concentrate the sun's rays onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. Their absorption heats a transfer fluid in the pipe, generating steam in the power block by way of heat exchange. As with conventional power plants, the steam is utilized in a turbine to generate power, and by integrating thermal storage, this power can be supplied on demand. Thus, solar power plants can also generate electricity after sunset.
