Does the Sahara desert hold the key to unlocking unlimited solar power?

Bigger than North America and without the obstacles of wildlife or people, setting up power stations across the desert could give the world a clean, renewable future. So why hasn’t it been done already, asks Steven Cutts

Solar power from only one to two per cent of the Sahara could provide electricity for the whole of Europe (Getty/iStock)

There are some problems we never seem able to solve. The shortage of electrical power is one of them. Ever since President Carter proclaimed an energy crisis in the 1970s, people have been talking about all kinds of weird and wonderful solutions to the issue of energy and – thus far – no one has come up with one single answer.

While solar power is now providing as much as 4 per cent of British electricity, few people appreciate just how quickly electricity production will have to increase. If the internal combustion engine is on its way out then the western world will need to double its electrical supply just to recharge its battery-powered vehicles.

Progress on this scale demands a fundamental rethink of our entire energy supply industry. The beginning of the 21st century saw a group of German engineers doing just that. They developed a plan to harvest solar power in the Sahara desert and transmit the stuff across the Mediterranean using very high-voltage, direct-current cables.