The sun soaked nation of Algeria has a good idea and they are running with it. They plan on building massive solar thermal power plants, using all the energy they need and exporting the rest to Europe. Even though they are Africa’s second largest nation they are more than 4/5ths desert, with an estimated solar resource able to power all of Europe 60 times over.

This idea has been a long time coming. Finally construction has started on Algeria’s first solar power plant at Hassi R’mel, 260 miles south of the capital Algiers. This hybrid plant will use both solar energy and natural gas to generate 150 megawatts. Of that, 25 megawatts will be from solar. This plant is the first of its kind worldwide, and will be online by 2010.

Continue reading No Oil, No Problem Algeria Plans On Exporting Solar Power To Europe →