Energy visions in action – The DESERTEC initiative

Chief operating officer of DII, Rainer Aringhoff, to speak at the Deutsche Welle Global

It’s a fascinating idea: produce solar and wind-generated electricity where the resources abound – in the desert – and transport it via cable to Europe, the Middle East and North America. Though it may ring futuristic, Rainer Aringhoff is intent on making it a reality. But as the solar energy executive told Deutsche Welle, it requires patience. “Just preparing the projects – from the contracting process and licensing procedures through to actually building a power station – can take up to ten years.”

Experience and vision

Aringhoff has 25 years of experience under his belt in solar thermal power station technology and project development. In mid-April 2010 he became the chief operating officer of the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII), the organization in charge of developing the concept that aims to secure the future energy supply in regions lacking in resources. The initiative was founded by a dozen international energy companies.

You have to be a bit of a visionary to master such a “Herculean task”, as Aringhoff calls it, but there’s also an element of having “drive” and very clear ideas. “It all requires an endless amount of regulatory work,” says Aringhoff. “I just got on board and am already in the thick of it. I’m having to go through the conditions word for word with the German environment ministry, the European Union and at the moment, a Spanish energy operator. That can only be done very concretely: here’s the project, there are the investors and now we want to see if, for example, there’s a tariff we can get by on.”

Criticism and impatience

As with any project that initially seems out of the ordinary, there are of course critical voices, too. Aringhoff has been accused of “solar imperialism” because the company isn’t creating momentum in the country in question. But, he counters, “It’s quite obvious – our projects are creating jobs there and the stations generate tax revenue.” Aringhoff also has to contend with impatience, especially when dealing with politicians. “We’re always being asked about what happens next. You’re only fiddling about with concepts. They don’t realize that we’re just in the trial phase.”

He uses reference projects to curb his critics’ impatience and show that the DESERTEC concept can work. “We’re trying to build initial projects in the desert relatively quickly and organize the electricity transmission. So besides buying up power grids, we’re also having to conclude intergovernmental and multilateral agreements. Ultimately, electricity will then flow to Italy, Germany and the Benelux nations.”

The basic idea already appears to be bearing fruit because an increasing number of foreign companies, for instance from Morocco, Italy and France, are signing up as partners or shareholders, and Aringhoff thinks it’s a positive sign. “Of course many say it’s very visionary, but if you look at the growing number of members, then I can only imagine that they believe we can make it work.”