{"id":184,"date":"2023-06-12T08:13:03","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T08:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/tech\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T14:11:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:11:59","slug":"tech","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<section class=\"section\" id=\"section_1339976098\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<p>\n<div class=\"slider-wrapper relative\" id=\"slider-1659928561\" >\n    <div class=\"slider slider-nav-circle slider-nav-large slider-nav-light slider-style-normal\"\n        data-flickity-options='{\n            \"cellAlign\": \"center\",\n            \"imagesLoaded\": true,\n            \"lazyLoad\": 1,\n            \"freeScroll\": false,\n            \"wrapAround\": true,\n            \"autoPlay\": 6000,\n            \"pauseAutoPlayOnHover\" : true,\n            \"prevNextButtons\": true,\n            \"contain\" : true,\n            \"adaptiveHeight\" : true,\n            \"dragThreshold\" : 10,\n            \"percentPosition\": true,\n            \"pageDots\": true,\n            \"rightToLeft\": false,\n            \"draggable\": true,\n            \"selectedAttraction\": 0.1,\n            \"parallax\" : 0,\n            \"friction\": 0.6        }'\n        >\n        \n\n  <div class=\"banner has-hover\" id=\"banner-157192668\">\n          <div class=\"banner-inner fill\">\n        <div class=\"banner-bg fill\" >\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1034\" src=\"https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Ashalim_Power_Station_2022.jpg\" class=\"bg attachment-original size-original\" alt=\"\" \/>                        <div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>            \n                    <\/div>\n\t\t\n        <div class=\"banner-layers container\">\n            <div class=\"fill banner-link\"><\/div>            \n<p>\n   <div id=\"text-box-350541350\" class=\"text-box banner-layer x50 md-x50 lg-x50 y50 md-y50 lg-y50 res-text\">\n                                <div class=\"text-box-content text dark\">\n              \n              <div class=\"text-inner text-center\">\n                  \n<div class=\"x-text x-text-headline e2384-e4 m1u8-f\">\n<div class=\"x-text-content\">\n<div class=\"x-text-content-text\">\n<h1 class=\"x-text-content-text-primary\">Technology<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 110%;\"><strong>\u2192 Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year.<br \/>This makes it possible to supply humanity with sufficient energy on a sustainable basis. The DESERTEC concept promotes a massive expansion of solar and wind energy in the deserts of the world in order to integrate them into an intelligent mix of hydropower, biomass, geothermal energy and other renewable energy carriers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e5 m1u8-g m1u8-h m1u8-i m1u8-j\">\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n              <\/div>\n           <\/div>\n                            \n<style>\n#text-box-350541350 {\n  width: 100%;\n}\n#text-box-350541350 .text-box-content {\n  font-size: 100%;\n}\n<\/style>\n    <\/div>\n \n<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n            \n<style>\n#banner-157192668 {\n  padding-top: 286px;\n}\n#banner-157192668 .overlay {\n  background-color: rgba(0,0,0,.5);\n}\n#banner-157192668 .banner-bg img {\n  object-position: 41% 35%;\n}\n<\/style>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n     <\/div>\n\n     <div class=\"loading-spin dark large centered\"><\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1339976098 {\n  padding-top: 0px;\n  padding-bottom: 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\t<section class=\"section\" id=\"section_1574861493\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div class=\"is-border\"\n\t\tstyle=\"border-width:1px 0px 1px 0px;\">\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<p>\n<div class=\"row align-equal\"  id=\"row-1651660965\">\n<p>\n\n\t<div id=\"col-1664425223\" class=\"col small-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"x-text x-text-headline e2306-e4 m1s2-h\">\n<div class=\"x-text-content\">\n<div class=\"x-text-content-text\">\n<h1 class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e14 m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-l m1u8-n m1u8-o m1u8-p m1u8-q\"><span style=\"color: #8e1419;\">The Technology for the DESERTEC Concept<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e15 m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-o m1u8-r m1u8-s\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c1b40ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c1b40ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important technologies for desert power are already in practical use. While there is, of course, still room for improvement, the current state of technology has reached a high level of maturity for application. For instance, two key technologies for desert power, namely solar thermal power plants and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines, have been in practical use for a long time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e16 m1u8-h m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-l m1u8-n m1u8-q\"><span style=\"color: #8e1419;\">Table of Contents<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e17 m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-n m1u8-o m1u8-r m1u8-t\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#solarthermal-plants\">Solarthermal Plants<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#hvdc-transmission\">High Voltage Direct Current Transmission<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#iron\">Iron-Based Energy Carriers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<span class=\"scroll-to\" data-label=\"Scroll to: #solarthermal-plants\" data-bullet=\"true\" data-link=\"#solarthermal-plants\" data-title=\"Solarthermal Plants\" ><a name=\"solarthermal-plants\"><\/a><\/span>\n<h1 id=\"solarthermal-plants\" class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e18 m1u8-h m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-l m1u8-n m1u8-q\"><span style=\"color: #8e1419;\">Solarthermal Plants<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are numerous ways to harness energy from deserts, including traditional photovoltaic (PV) systems and wind turbines. These technologies can produce particularly low-cost but fluctuating electricity, which can either be used locally or transmitted to metropolitan regions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, for contributions from the deserts of North Africa to the European electricity market, solar thermal power plants are the most attractive option. These plants can provide baseload power in the gigawatt range 24 hours a day with minimal fluctuations or balance the significant variability in power generation from PV and wind through dispatchable electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solar thermal power plants are capable of generating electricity as reliably as conventional power plants. They operate similarly to conventional plants, with the key difference being that the steam driving the turbines is generated using the sun&#8217;s heat rather than fossil fuels. To achieve this, solar radiation is concentrated, which is why these facilities are also referred to as CSP plants (CSP = Concentrated Solar Power).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a single, large solar thermal power plant were built to supply electricity for the entire world, it would cover less than 1% of the Sahara&#8217;s area! In practice, many smaller plants would be constructed, but this comparison underscores the immense potential of desert regions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Concentrated Solar Energy<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To concentrate solar radiation, either parabolic troughs with crescent-shaped mirrors are used, or sunlight is focused by a large number of mirrors onto the top of a centrally located tower.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In parabolic trough systems, the concentrated sunlight heats a tube through which a special oil or other heat transfer medium is pumped. In solar tower power plants, liquid salt is currently the preferred heat transfer medium. This medium is used in a heat exchanger to produce steam to drive a turbine. Some designs even generate steam directly for industrial heat applications or electricity production.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contrary to popular belief, much of the Sahara is not covered by sand; most of it consists of barren rock. As a result, sandstorms and shifting dunes pose no significant issues for solar thermal facilities. If a sandstorm does occur, the mirrors can be moved to a protective position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Finally, Solar Energy at Night!<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A portion of the heated heat transfer medium is stored either directly in a thermal storage unit or transfers its heat to a storage system. This allows vast amounts of energy to be stored for periods of up to several days at very low cost. This stored heat solves one of the biggest challenges of solar energy: electricity generation during the night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Solar Thermal Power \u2013 The Strong Partner for PV and Wind<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to the ability to store solar heat, CSP plants are largely weather-independent and can thus provide balancing power. This is ideal for accelerating the further expansion of PV and wind energy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the turbine rotors and attached generators in CSP plants, with their large mass and high inertia, help buffer short-term fluctuations in grid frequency, thereby stabilizing the electricity grid. This function is identical to what traditional gas or coal-fired power plants offer and is becoming increasingly important as more variable renewable energy sources feed into the grid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Advantages of Solar Thermal Power Plants<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Low Water Consumption<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Water requirements for CSP plants are a minor concern in desert environments. In newer facilities, steam is cooled using air or, at coastal sites, condensed using seawater, creating a closed water cycle. Cleaning the mirrors is done using methods designed to minimize water consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ongoing Development of Solar Thermal Power<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CSP plants have been and continue to be steadily improved. Most components have become cheaper and more efficient, mirror control software has become increasingly sophisticated, and overall system design is continually refined. However, the development of CSP systems is far from complete.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<span class=\"scroll-to\" data-label=\"Scroll to: #hvdc-transmission\" data-bullet=\"true\" data-link=\"#hvdc-transmission\" data-title=\"HVDC-Transmission\" ><a name=\"hvdc-transmission\"><\/a><\/span>\n<h1 id=\"direct-current-transmission\" class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e20 m1u8-h m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-l m1u8-n m1u8-q\"><span style=\"color: #8e1419;\">High Voltage Direct Current Transmission<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To transport desert power, for instance, to Central Europe, the technology of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission is particularly well-suited. HVDC avoids the inductive and capacitive resistance that causes significant losses in alternating current (AC) lines over long distances. HVDC transmission lines are already widely used in Europe, such as for connecting islands to the mainland or linking the Scandinavian power grid with Central Europe&#8217;s grid via subsea cables in the North and Baltic Seas. For an HVDC line approximately 3,000 kilometers long\u2014the distance from the Sahara to Germany\u2014the expected transmission loss would be less than 10%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At existing or newly constructed substations, the direct current can be converted into alternating current and fed into the local power grid.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<span class=\"scroll-to\" data-label=\"Scroll to: #iron\" data-bullet=\"true\" data-link=\"#iron\" data-title=\"Iron\" ><a name=\"iron\"><\/a><\/span>\n<h1 id=\"iron\" class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e22 m1u8-h m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-l m1u8-n m1u8-q\"><span style=\"color: #8e1419;\">Metal Energy Carriers<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"x-text x-content e2384-e23 m1u8-i m1u8-k m1u8-o m1u8-r m1u8-s\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two widely known materials have the potential to store solar energy from deserts and make it available for transport around the world: aluminium and iron! So-called <\/span><b>metallic energy carriers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are powders made from pure aluminium or pure iron that can store large amounts of energy. These metallic powders could replace coal as an energy carrier worldwide while allowing existing coal infrastructure\u2014including ships, power plants and electricity grids\u2014to continue to be used.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how can metal powder provide energy? A metal component or ingot does not normally burn, but when certain metals are ground into fine powders, they can be ignited and burned. A similar phenomenon is well known with flour: in a pile, it is difficult to ignite, but when dispersed in the air, it is highly flammable. In fireworks, burning iron powder produces bright yellow sparks, while aluminium produces silver sparks. In other words, we have all witnessed metallic energy carriers in action at fireworks displays. Fine metal powders can also react with water to release hydrogen, whenever and wherever it is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iron burns &#8211; CO<sub>2<\/sub>-free!<br \/>Short Video: <a title=\"Iron burns - CO2-free!\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2eavRtrsD8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/2eavRtrsD8o<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"video-wrapper\"><button>Show YouTube video<\/button><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  function loadVideo() {\n    const wrapper = document.querySelector(\".video-wrapper\");\n    wrapper.innerHTML = `<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2eavRtrsD8o\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>`;\n  }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><b>CO\u2082-free: Metallic Energy Carriers Replace Coal and Gas<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When comparing aluminium and iron as energy carriers, different advantages and disadvantages become apparent, making them suitable for slightly different applications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iron powder enables the generation of a continuous flame with combustion characteristics similar to those of coal. In coal-fired power plants, coal is ground into powder, blown into a boiler and burned. This generates steam, which drives turbines to produce electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The process works in much the same way with iron powder. The powder is blown into the boiler, where it burns at a controllable temperature. Depending on requirements, combustion can be just as hot as\u2014or even hotter than\u2014coal combustion. While burning hard coal and lignite produces large quantities of CO\u2082, ash and pollutants, burning iron leaves only iron oxide (\u201crust\u201d). In other words, it burns without CO\u2082 emissions. Tests also show that nitrogen oxide emissions from iron combustion are significantly lower than those from coal. The powdered rust is transported away as a \u201cwaste product\u201d, just like the ash from coal-fired boilers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research is also being conducted into the direct combustion of aluminium. However, producing hydrogen using aluminium powder is already technically feasible. The powder is added to water, with sodium hydroxide used as a catalyst. Sodium hydroxide is familiar from products such as dishwasher tablets and from water treatment for industrial steam boilers. Aluminium powder essentially acts like an \u201ceffervescent powder\u201d that can produce hydrogen on demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iron can therefore be used more directly in existing power plants, while aluminium is easier to transport because of its higher energy density.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>A Circular System: Returning Metal Oxides to the Desert<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where solar energy, particularly in desert regions, comes into play. Both iron combustion and the use of aluminium leave the entire fuel behind as ash (more precisely, metal oxides). These two metal oxides are non-toxic and non-corrosive and do not need to be stored under pressure or be refrigerated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using renewable energy, the metal oxides\u2014which have absorbed oxygen during combustion\u2014can be reduced back to pure metals. Metallic energy carriers are therefore fuels that, unlike coal, wood or gas, are not consumed once when burned. Instead, they are <\/span><b>rechargeable fuels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whose energy can be replenished by removing oxygen from the metal oxides.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why Metallic Energy Carriers Instead of Hydrogen?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The use of hydrogen as a raw material and an energy carrier is an important component of the energy transition. However, hydrogen as an energy carrier has several fundamental disadvantages:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High water demand:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Hydrogen production requires enormous amounts of water. The infrastructure needed for seawater desalination is complex and costly. Using desalinated water in desert regions to produce hydrogen would only be acceptable to local populations if sufficient water were available for other needs as well.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Low energy density:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Hydrogen has an extremely low energy density, meaning that the amount of energy it contains per unit of volume is very small. Even with technically demanding processes, its energy density remains far below that of coal, liquefied petroleum gas or oil. Compressing hydrogen to 700 bar achieves an energy density of approximately 1.3 kWh per litre, while liquefying it by cooling it to \u2212253\u00b0C achieves around 2.4 kWh per litre. Iron has a gravimetric energy density similar to that of lignite, while aluminium offers excellent energy density: per kilogram, it is comparable to petrol, and per litre, it can achieve almost three times the energy density of petrol.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Lack of suitable ships:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> At present, there are very few ships capable of transporting large quantities of hydrogen. Transporting hydrogen in chemically bound form as ammonia (NH\u2083) is being considered, but ammonia is a highly toxic substance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Lack of pipelines:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Extensive distribution networks for hydrogen or ammonia are not currently available. Demand could grow much faster than the infrastructure required to distribute these substances could be built.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\" id=\"image_700034831\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-inner dark\" >\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Chemical-energy-carriers-1024x353.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Chemical-energy-carriers-1024x353.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Chemical-energy-carriers-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Chemical-energy-carriers-768x264.jpg 768w, https:\/\/desertec.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Chemical-energy-carriers.jpg 1220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<style>\n#image_700034831 {\n  width: 100%;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More Information on Metal Energy Carriers: <a href=\"https:\/\/metalenergyhub.de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TU Darmstadt Metal Energy Hub<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1574861493 {\n  padding-top: 43px;\n  padding-bottom: 43px;\n  min-height: 276px;\n  background-color: rgb(241, 241, 241);\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-blank.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-184","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":537,"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/184\/revisions\/537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desertec.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}