Desertec Foundation Leaving Desertec Industrial Initiative

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This article was first published on Lenz Blog.

The Desertec Foundation just announced that they are leaving the Desertec Industrial Initiative.

There probably are some reasons for such a step, which obviously won’t help getting anything done. But none of those reasons are really explained in any meaningful way in the press release.

That press release cites “many irresolvable disputes between the two entities in the area of future strategies, obligations and their communication and last but not least the managerial style of Dii’s top management,” without naming even one of them.

What exactly do they disagree on? And why do they think that their position, which they don’t disclose to the public, is the correct one?

There is still nothing on this at the Industrial Initiative website.

A couple of days ago, Craig Morris at Renewables International already reported on some conflict at the Industrial Initiative, based on an article at Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Apparently, some of the conflict is about the question when electricity exports from Northern Africa to Europe are supposed to start.

If so, I don’t understand why people would get all excited about such a detail. Obviously, right now there won’t be any significant exports. You need to build power lines for that first.

Why don’t they just wait a decade or two and see what the market figures out about when the European and African electricity markets get integrated? Why would one risk a lot of conflict because of such a question that is clearly not urgent right now?

Again, an explanation would seem to be in order. I don’t think it is acceptable for the Desertec Foundation to spit into the face of their industrial partners without offering at least some kind of meaningful explanation.