Brussels, 24/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 24 November 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Desertec Industry Initiative (Dii) and Medgrid in a ceremony attended by EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, and the German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Greek energy ministers. The MoU establishes closer cooperation between the two private industry initiatives, which are key to the promotion of a renewable energy partnership between the EU and countries in the Southern Mediterranean.
The two consortiums will work together to generate, transport and sell renewable energy in the EU, the Middle East and North Africa as suggested by the Commision in 2008 in its plan for the solar and wind energy projects in the southern and eastern Mediterranean to generate some 20 gigawatts of solar and wind energy a year by 2020, 5 GW of whjich is to be exported to the EU.
Dii (Desertec Industry Initiative) is a private industry joint venture, founded in October 2009 in Munich, Germany, to generate energy from the sun and wind in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East for local and European demand. The long-term goal is to meet about 15% of Europe's electricity demand by 2050. It comprises 17 companies, and 56 in the wider Dii “Renewable Energy Bridging Continents” set-up, mostly German companies like E.ON, RWE, Siemens, ABB and Deutsche Bank, joined in 2010 by Enel Green Power of Italy, Saint-Gobain Solar of France, Red Electrica of Spain and Morocco's Nareva Holding,
Medgrid, created at the end of 2010 in Paris, is a group of 20 companies promoting new high-capacity electricity links around the Mediterranean, studying their feasibility from the technical, economic and institutional standpoints. It is expected that the infrastructure would link the Southern, Eastern and Northern shores of the Mediterranean and transport electricity generated primarily from solar energy in North Africa, the Sahara Desert and the Middle East. Founder companies include French companies EDF, RTE, Alstom, Areva, Atos Origin, Nexans and CDC, Spanish companies Abengoa and Red Electrica, Germany's Siemens, Italy's Terna, Prysmian and Nemo, Morocco's ONE and Taqa of the United Arab Emirates. Medgrid will create a grid of electricity lines under the Mediterranean.
Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said in a press release: “By joining efforts and coordinating their approaches, the two initiatives take a truly European dimension. There is now a concrete perspective of solar and wind energy being produced for the joint benefit of European and Northern African and Middle Eastern citizens, as well for the benefit of both markets”. (EH/transl.fl)