A consortium of 12 European businesses has announced a sustainable energy initiative that will start with a huge solar project in the Sahara desert. The Desertec Industrial Initiative aims to supply and produce Europe with 15 percent solar-generated electricity and also a vast network of power plants and transmission grids across North Africa and the Middle East.  

The Company’s Chief Executive, Paul Van Son, said time has come to turn this vision into reality, and this implies intensive cooperation with many parties and cultures to create a sound basis for feasible investments into renewable energy technologies and interconnected grids. 

He also said the first stage will be to build massive solar energy fields across North Africa’s Sahara Desert, utilizing concentrated solar power technology which uses parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on containers of water.