Desertec – Wüstenstrom für nachhaltigen Wohlstand auf der ganzen Welt

DESERTEC – Global Energy Transition with Deserts

The Problem: Global investments in fossil fuels still acummalated to one trillion dollars in 2025. Despite a massive build up of photovoltaics, wind-power and batteries, all three fossil fuels – oil, coal and gas – had a new record concumption in 2025. Photovoltaics and wind-power are weatherdependand, leaving massive gaps for fossil fuels to fill. The added capacity by photovoltaics and wind in many cases just produces extra electricity for increased demand, not acutally replacing existing fossl fuel plants. The energy transition is concentrated in some regions while other countries have barely begun.

The solution: Earth´s deserts offer ideal conditions for renewable energies – high solar irridiation, few competing land usages and the potential to use solarthermal plants, which are rarely realiziable outside deserts. Under 2 % of the area of the Sahara would be enough to cover the electricity demand of the entire world.

Our mission: In the next years, investments in fossil fuels should go to zero. The deserts should offer enough truely profitable energy projects to outcompete fossil fuels in getting capital and off-takers. The DESERTEC Foundation pursues this goal as a think tank that advises public and private institution on how to use deserts for the energy transition.

The core idea of DESERTEC is to use the enourmes potential of deserts for the energy transition. Those countries that are the furthest ahead in the energy transition have shown that geographic potential is one of the main determining factors predicting success in the energy transition: Norway, Sweden and Iceland have access to baseload renewables like hydropower and geothermal. This allowed those countries to supply 100 % of their electricity from renewable sources while also achieving the lowest electricity prices on earth! While other countries struggle to combine weather-dependand sources – neither keeping prices low nor meeting climate targets – these renewable champions have not only electrified most of their other energy sectors, but even attracted energy-intensive industries!

What if deserts hold a similar geographic potential? The high irridiation allows for solarthermal power plants which are equally able to produce cheap baseload like hydropower or geothermal and photovoltaics is so cheap that different storage concepts become much more viable.

Examples of using deserts for energy:

Wie How do you get from an empty desert to an integrated system of solarparks, storage, grids and consumers?

Our work consists of three steps:

Concept development – Concept Communication – Concept Implementation:

Concept Development

What should be build in the desert?

Marketanalysis: What kind of energy is demanded? Electricity, process heat, chemical energy carriers or energy-intensive goods?

Angebotsanalyse: Which power plant/storage system covers demand cheaper than fossil fuels?

Systemanalysis: Concepts for a cheaper, faster and more resource-efficient energy transition.

Technologies in deserts

Concept Communication

Who wants to build in deserts?

Awarness: Communicate identified concepts and studies on them.

Delegation trips: We organize delegation trips to countries with deserts to connect experts and stakeholders around the world.

Lobbyism: We promote our concepts to governments representing stakeholders who crave a faster, more efficient energy transition.

Concept Implementation

Wie kann man in Wüsten bauen?

Financing Conditions: We support access to capital from development banks, sovereign wealth funds and green funds.

National Grid Plans: We create the political will to include more renewable projects in national grid plans.

Additional revenue streams: Offering grid-services and environmental benefits can often be monetized. We consult on capacity auctions and emissions certificates.

Public posts about DESERTEC Foundation:

SFor more than 15 years the DESERTEC Foundation has accompanied projects and initiatives that aim to connect Africa and Europe. With the ELMED Interconnector there is finally a project permitted and financed to connect Italy and Tunisia.

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At the German Economic Council the Foundation presented the concept of metallic energy carriers. These metal powders are much easier to transport than hydrogen, offering many opportunities.

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