CSP: SECURITY OF ENERGY SUPPLIES

In the scenario for Europe up to 2050 proposed in the TRANS-CSP report, there would be an overall reduction in imported sources of energy and an increase in the diversity of sources of energy, with CSP imports providing only a part of Europe's electricity. In this scenario, the entire renewable energy supply system will be highly resilient and resistant to any kind of catastrophic interruption:

• The DESERTEC proposals provide a good answer to worries about a "global grab for energy." Because the resource is so large, the world market may be flooded with cheap energy. This would mean increased energy security for everyone. See also Safeguarding global security.
• Deserts and other areas with high levels of direct sunlight are very widely distributed in the world—which means that no country need be overly dependent on a few sources.
• For that reason, and because the resource is so large, there would be a buyers' market for clean power from deserts. It would be very difficult to set up some kind of solar cartel (like OPEC).
• If a solar cartel was created, it is likely that it would be self-defeating because it would simply encourage further development of the many alternative sources of renewable energy.
• When OPEC raised oil prices in the 1970s, it damaged investments by OPEC countries in western economies. Even if there was a solar cartel, there would be similar reasons for it to avoid excessive price rises or disruption of supplies.
• Europe already imports substantial amounts of gas and oil from countries like Algeria and Libya and there is no sign of these supplies being suddenly cut off.
• In themselves, CSP imports would help to increase the diversity of sources of energy.
• Without CSP imports, there would probably be a need for increased imports of other less secure (and more polluting) sources of energy such as gas.
• CSP plants can provide major benefits for host countries (see the page about CSP bonuses) so there is little incentive to disrupt their operation. Any such disruption would reduce earnings from the export of solar electricity.
• The transmission grid can be designed to accommodate damage in very much the same way that the internet was designed to be resilient in the face of military attack. Rather than rely on a few large transmission lines, electricity may be transmitted over an interconnected grid of smaller transmission lines. This means that electricity can always by-pass any part or parts of the network that may be damaged.
• If necessary, HVDC transmission lines may be buried underground or laid under water where they would be difficult to attack. Airtricity and the EU has proposed a supergrid of this type across the whole of Europe, composed entirely of submarine cables (see electricity transmission grids).
• Knocking out a CSP plant with a bomb would not be easy and the damage would be easily repaired—and, in any case, it would be necessary to knock out hundreds or thousands of them simultaneously to have much impact.
• It is not necessary to rely exclusively on transmission lines for the import of solar energy. Although efficiencies would be lower, there can be good reasons to transport energy from CSP plants as hydrogen or as finely powdered metal or boron (see synthesis of fuels).
• Apart from providing an alternative route for transmitting solar energy, these energy 'vectors' can be stored in large quantities as backup supplies of energy if direct transmission is interrupted.
• Bush/Blair policies, driven by the perceived need to protect oil supplies, have made the world more dangerous, not less. A much better option is to break down mutual distrust and build international understandings by collaboration on projects that benefit everyone. The development of CSP would be an ideal project in that connection. See also Safeguarding global security.
• The proposed Union for the Mediterranean may help to build those good relations and smooth the path for the DESERTEC proposals.
• From a UK perspective, discussions of whether or not it is wise to import solar electricity from North Africa and the Middle East may turn out to be "academic". It is very likely that the rest of Europe will import solar electricity from MENA and, since the UK will be part of the single European market for electricity that is taking shape now, it will be participating in those solar imports. Unless the UK makes the unwise and improbable move of cutting its power connections with the continent and setting itself up as a self-contained power fortress, UK businesses and consumers will welcome the opportunity to buy clean power from deserts.
• To put possible security concerns in perspective, it should not be forgotten that many countries now depend on supplies of fossil fuels that come from relatively few sources and are quite vulnerable to interruption. It has become accepted that gas, for example, may be transported over long distances through a single pipeline that may be attacked by terrorists at any point along its length. Nuclear power plants depend on imported fuels (they are not a 'home grown' source of energy) and are themselves vulnerable to terrorist attack. Nuclear fuel or nuclear waste may easily be hijacked as it is transported around the world in trucks, trains or ships (see Why we don't need nuclear power).