Concentrated solar power in the world's deserts

Concentrating solar power is a proven technology that could supply enough electricity to power the whole of Europe
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Link to video: Manchester Report: Concentrated solar power

Concentrating solar power (CSP) involves using arrays of mirrors to focus large amounts of sunlight onto a small area. This creates extremely high levels of heat, which can be converted into electricity using a steam turbine or Stirling engine – or stored in tanks of molten salt to provide power at night or on cloudy days. The mirrors can be parabolic troughs or giant dishes. Alternatively, a large number of sun-tracking flat mirrors can direct sunlight to the top of a so-called "power tower".

According to advocate Gerry Wolff, coordinator of the British wing of the Desertec project, the world could slash emissions and improve energy security by putting large CSP plants in the Sahara and other desert regions. Wolff estimates that less than 1% of the world's deserts would provide enough space to produce as much electricity and the world currently consumes. An area of just 139km by 139km could match current EU power consumption. As a bonus, the waste heat from the electricity generation could be used to provide desalinated water to dry regions, and the shade of the mirrors could facilitate horticulture in areas usually too hot to support it.

Electricity from the deserts could be transferred to population centres thousands of miles away using high-voltage direct-current cables. Similar cables could connect existing grids to large wind farms, hydroelectric stations and geothermal plants, creating continent-sized "supergrids" that would provide copious quantities of renewable electricity as inexpensively and reliably as possible.

Geopolitical issues with the Desertec scheme – such as North African control of European electricity – remain to be resolved, but there are no insurmountable technical barriers. CSP is a proven technology, with plants up and running in the US, Spain and other regions.

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