UK homes could benefit from solar energy imported from Tunisia, The Independent reveals

Low Carbon, a British investor and UK based developer NurEnergie are among the partnership, TuNur, involved in the project, which aims to bring 2 Gigawatts of solar energy to Britain by 2018 and power 2.5 million homes

Kevin Sara, chairman and chief executive at NurEnergie, explains “we are working with some of the largest engineering firms in the world…..to deliver dispatchable, low carbon electricity to the UK more cheaply”, which, it is estimated, will be twenty percent cheaper than home grown, offshore wind oriented sources.

The 100sq Km farm, located in Kebili Governorate, South Western Tunisia, relies on concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, which reflects sunlight to a central tower, allowing solar energy to be stored and shipped to Rome through a 450Km underground cable, and subsequently moved to the UK via a giant inteconnector, “This might seem like quite an extreme project, but the technology is all proven. We have identified a site, conducted a feasibility study and lined up potential investors,” explains NurEnergie chief operating officer Daniel Rich.

Solar Energy in the UK

The solar energy initiative, which marks the first large scale project between Tunisia and the UK, was made possible by a recent rule change from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC UK), allowing global renewable energy developers to bid for contracts of difference, which guarantee subsidies for the supplying of power.

The new rules will allow the UK to benefit from Saharan Solar Energy, which, explains Kevin Sara, is “an area of optimum solar resource. Successful government programmes such as Masen in Morocco prove that developing solar in the Sahara is a cost effective source of renewable energy today”, so long as the UK gets first priority, a DECC UK spokesman insists; “In order to reduce costs for British consumers, any future non-UK project would need to compete on cost-effectiveness with projects in the UK before being allocated a contract for difference…[and]… all electricity generated by any non-UK projects will be used in the UK.”

However, the DECC UK rule change drew negative reactions from domestic solar energy producers, who have to contend with the setbacks in the Renewable Obligation subsidy, “The very last thing we need is the additional medium-term uncertainty that would be created …[early in the next parliament]… from any decision to push on with opening up the CFD scheme and Levy Control Framework budget to foreign projects.” Argues Seb Berry of Solarcentury

The TuNur partnership has invested UK8 million to date in the project, gathering and developing three years worth of solar data.