Brussels, 07/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Medgrid is the project for high-voltage cables on the Mediterranean seabed. This project aims to channel electricity to the Community market from solar energy produced in North Africa, the Sahara and the Middle East, providing a crucial contribution to making the EU's supply more secure while stimulating growth in partner countries on the southern and eastern banks of the Mediterranean.
Medgrid was set up at the end of 2010 by 20 industrial groups (EDF, RTE, Alstom, Areva, Atos Origin, Nexans and CDC from France, Abengoa and Red Electrica from Spain, Siemens from Germany, Terna, Prysmian and Nemo from Italy, the Moroccan ONE Emirati Taqa groups). It is part of the Mediterranean Solar Plan, an initiative brought forward by the European Commission in November 2008. This seeks to develop renewable energy production capacities from solar and wind sources of 20 gigawats by 2020 in the south and East of the Mediterranean basin. 5 GW of this production will be exported to the EU, the equivalent of 25% of production planned in the project. The objective is to create (by 2013) a trans-Mediterranean connection network capable of producing enough energy to export these 5 GW and to analyse the conditions for their technical, financial and institutional feasibility.
A debate was organised by the European Energy Forum in Brussels on 5 October. This was attended by Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger's head of cabinet Michael Koehler. This event provided the CEO of the Medgrid consortium, André Merlin, with an opportunity to promote his project. He asserted that “Medgrid should be able to help EU member states reach their ambitious renewable energy objectives by 2020. The high buyback price paid by the EU will help finance renewable energy production and stimulate growth in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries and help towards developing shared prosperity”. The former head of the French transport network management company, RTE, affirmed that “Medgrid wants to pursue its activities beyond this date and become an architect for a Mediterranean network for supplying electrical energy between the two banks of the Mediterranean”.
Medgrid is not ruling out any collaborative ventures with Desertec, the German initiative for the giant solar energy farm in the Sahara. This seeks to cover up to 15% of EU electricity requirements by 2025. Merlin and Paul van Son, the director general of Desertec, discussed the complementarity of their action on Tuesday. (EH/transl.fl)