Could Africa power the world with concentrated solar power?

Concentrated Solar Power

Africa is a pretty much untapped source of renewable energy, but the world seems to be finally coming round to the continents potential - particularly solar power.

If the solar industry continues to develop at its current rate, concentrated solar power
(CSP) could meet up to seven percent of the world's power needs by 2030 and one quarter by 2050, according to GreenPeace. The organisation reported in May this year that "CSP has taken off". It claims the sector can step out of the shadow of other renewable technologies and can establish itself as the third biggest player in the sustainable power generation industry. One of the most attractive qualities of CSP is that it does not compete against other renewable energies; it is an additional technology that is now economically viable.

The first commercial CSP plant opened in Spain in 2007, and now similar projects are being lined up for north Africa in the hope that the continents hot climate can help power the world.

Europe eyes Africa

European government and industry have been eyeing tracts of sun-soaked, vacant land in North Africa and the Middle East for some time. And now, officials and business executives are beginning to work out the details that could see renewable power pouring from the desert.

As ScientificAmerican reports, the vision is highly ambitious: By 2050, massive CSP solar thermal plants, which concentrate the sun's energy using mirrors to heat steam-generating media, would sprawl across the Sahara and Middle East, feeding most of the power produced to the region's host nations. But then the leftover energy would travel north on a new 45 billion euro grid to meet 15 percent of Europe's electricity needs.

Africa's largest solar plant

Even though CSP technology is quite new, the concept of solar energy in Africa is not.

Africa's largest solar power plant, located in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, has recently started feeding electricity into the grid. The project incorporates 4,000 thin-film modules constructed by the US-based manufacturer First Solar.

In terms of CSP, globally, the industry could employ as many as 2 million people by 2050 who will help save the climate and produce up to one quarter of the world's electricity.

The fact that Africa could play such a pivotal role in the future of this technology is extremely exciting.

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