Up to 2.5 million British homes could be powered by Tunisian sunshine by 2018 under an £8bn plan to build a giant solar farm in the Sahara desert and ship the electricity to Europe through a 450km (280 miles) submarine cable.

 

The proposed 100 sq km TuNur farm would host thousands of computer-controlled mirrors that track the sun and reflect the light back towards a central tower, which absorbs the heat into pipes filled with salt.

 

The hot salt will be used to heat water, creating steam that propels a turbine and generates energy. This would be transported to a substation near Rome through an underground cable and plugged into the European electricity network, at which point it would be shipped to the UK through a giant interconnector.

 

“This might seem like quite an extreme project, but the technology is all proven. We have identified a site, conducted a feasibility study and lined up potential investors,” Daniel Rich, chief operating officer of project developer Nur Energie, said.

 

The consortium behind the project also includes the British renewable energy financier Low Carbon. It is seeking a subsidy from the UK Government giving it a guaranteed price for the electricity produced, which it says will pave the way for the project to happen.

 

Under new Government rules, the UK will allow developers of renewable energy projects that are not based in the country to bid for subsidy contracts, provided that the power is exported to Britain.

 

The proposal from TuNur will be one of a number of competing bids the Government is likely to receive in the competition for its new subsidy scheme. The Government stressed yesterday that any proposal granted a subsidy would have to prove it provided good value for money.

 

 

PHOTO: An artist’s impression of TuNur solar farm in the Sahara desert.