Desertec green energy project left with three core shareholders

Oct 14, 2014 - German utility RWE (ETR:RWE), Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and the State Grid Corp of China (SGCC) are the only remaining core shareholders of Desertec, continuing the renewable energy project in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in an "adapted format".

Dii GmbH said on Tuesday that the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), the goal of which was to supply green power to Europe from the deserts of the MENA region, will now continue as a service provider to its remaining three core shareholders. Investors that left the initiative include German companies Bilfinger SE (ETR:GBF), E.on (ETR:EOA), Siemens AG (FRA:SIE) and Robert Bosch GmbH.

The project was launched in 2009 and was expected to feed green electricity to Europe in 2020. The total investment cost for the project was previously estimated at about EUR 400 billion (USD 507bn).

Since its initiation, Dii has been conducting studies and developing country specific strategies that helped for the implementation of around 70 projects, currently under construction. “This phase is now complete and we are adapting to new requirements,” CEO Paul van Son said in a press release. Looking forward, Dii will continue to facilitate and support project activities in the MENA region, functioning as a service company.

In its statement, Dii mentioned it expects the project volume in the entire region to reach 35 GW by 2020.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.266)

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