Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
7.7 Outlook and Development Potential
Although the expansion in solar thermal power plants came to a standstill between
1991 and 2006, many new facilities are now either at the planning stage or under
construction. The current boom in the area of solar power plants is likely to lead to
cost reductions if there is a rapid rise in the power plant capacity installed world-
wide. In about 10 years solar plants at some of the early locations could start becom-
ing competitive with conventional power plants, even without the offer of higher
energy credits. It is conceivable that power plants in the hot and sunny regions of
the world will be fully competitive in about 20 years' time. Then, purely for cost
reasons, solar power plants will be given preference in these countries over previous
fossil and nuclear power plants.
By far the greatest potential for building solar power plants exists in North Africa.
Even with a generous exclusion of unsuitable areas, such as sand dunes, nature
reserves and mountainous and agricultural regions, about 1% of the remaining area
of North Africa would theoretically be able to produce enough electricity to meet
the demands of every country on earth. Figure 7.17 shows the areas that would be
available. Other perfect solar sites could be found, for example, in the US deserts.
unusable regions:
inclination
geomorphology
hydrology
ocean
land utilisation
protectorate
population
usable
Figure 7.17
Suitable regions in North Africa for building solar power plants.
Graphics: DLR.
In addition to the favourable costs of generating energy, solar power plants in North
Africa also have long operating times. With the ability to provide a high number of
full-load hours, the plants there can guarantee a higher reliability of coverage than
those in Central or Northern Europe. North Africa also has many locations with top
conditions for wind power plants.
