Sustainable development by Sahara Solar Breeder plan: Energy from the desert of Algeria, a Green Energy Dream grows in the Sahara

Abstract

In  this  contribution  a  particular  attention  is  being given  to  the  joint  event  that  bring  together  the  relevant  parties, University  of  Sciences  and  Technology  of  Oran  (USTO-MB),  six Japanese  Universities,  Japan  International  Corporation  Agency (JICA), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JSTA), University of Saida and the URER/MS Renewable Energy Centre of Adrar to develop  a  long-term  vision  and  strategy  to  boost  the  ideas  for  the realisation and the development of the Sahara Solar Breeder (SSB) project.  The  Science  Council  of  Japan  (SCJ)  proposed  the  SSB plan  at  the  G8+5  Academies’  meeting  in  Rome  in  2009,  and appealed  for  international  cooperation  to  solve  the  global  energy and  ecological  issues [1].  The SSB plan  starts from basic  material research on innovative solar Si technology (more than and beyond Siemens processes) and High critical Temperature Superconducting  Cables  (HTcSC)  for  DC  transmission  in  order  to speed up the electric superhighway. The generated electricity from SSB,  made  up  of  a  network  of  Very  Large  Scale-PV  Power Systems  in  Sahara  desert,  will  have  to  be  transferred  to  the  North Africa,  then  Europe,  Africa,  and  ultimately  the  rest  of  the  world, via  HTcSC  that  can  provide,  in  compact  dimension,  firm  capacity for   base   load,   intermediate   and   peaking   power,   effectively complementing  conventional  electricity  sources.  Because  HTcSC are compact and can transmit a large amount of electric power (up to   10   times   as   much   power   as   conventional   electric   power transmission   cable),   it   can   utilize   more   effectively   congested underground  space  where  a  lot  of  piping  and  other  units  already exist.  This  project  will  also  tackle  the  key  challenges  andissues related   to   the   field   of   PV   putting   forward   the   USTO-MB perspective  and  promoting  its  R/D  activities  by  a  collaborative research  plan  between  Japan  and  Algeria.  In  addition  to  the  well-recognized  two  values  of  vast  land  and  sunshine,  the  desert  of Algeria has the third value, sand, for its main component, SiO2.