Dii - Desert Energy
Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) was launched in 2009 as a market enabler in Germany for exploring the potential of renewables in the desert areas of Northern Africa and the Middle East, improving market conditions and examining the synergies to be captured through connecting the European and MENA energy markets. As the MENA countries and their energy markets have migrated rapidly, Dii has reinvented itself about every three years. Dii International Industrial Initiative started with a ‘Desertec1.0’ vision and moved from Germany to Dubai in 2015 to focus on the MENA region itself (Desertec2.0). Today, we arrived at Desertec 3.0, which aims at reaching emission free energy value chains from flexible demand, storage, transport, green electrons (power) generation and conversion to ‘green molecules’ (e.g. Hydrogen, ammonia and other synthetic ‘green’ products) and the transport of ‘green electrons’ in the MENA region and supporting MENA to become a net exporter of green electrons and green molecules to the world markets. Thus, the original idea of ‘power from MENA to Europe’ has been broadened both geographically and product wise with benefits for the MENA region in the center..How will ‘100% Renewables’ work?
Smart integration of different types of renewables, grid interconnections, flexible demand and different types of storage will ensure emission-free round-the-clock security of supply at lowest costs! The PV power generation costs only a few cents/kWh during sun-hours coupled with cheaper ‘cold storage’ to cover cooling demand day and night. Decreasing prices of Solar Thermal power generation costs with energy storage techniques has led to reliable power supply 24*7. On the other hand, wind power generation is cheap as well as can play the role of baseload power generation method during day and night. The international grid interconnections will facilitate to level power generation fluctuations ensuring security and capturing synergies among different production and load patterns. Moreover, with the aid of various storage facilities, demand response, demand side management, smart grids, etc. the goal of 100% Renewables is possible in the near future. ..Development Phases
STRATEGY & ACHIEVEMENTS
- Dii Desert Energy has developed to a reputed industry group and think tank for accelerating the energy transition.
- Dii is a multi-stakeholders network, gathering top executive industry leaders as well as R&D, a consortium of more than 30 companies and organizations from 17 countries
- Recently published the book ‘Emission Free Energy From the Deserts’ available in English and German to tell the story of our journey
- Top level advisory board with industry leaders, senior bankers and top-level political representatives
- Dii Project Database and Geographical Information System with 1200 renewables project >5MW
- Strong track record of 10 years of successful work in MENA and additional work focused on Sub-Saharan developments, rooftop and micro grids
VISION & MISSION
- MENA to become the ‘green power house’ for the world energy markets
- Market acceleration towards 100% renewable supply of ‘green electrons’ and ‘green molecules’, transportation, storage and flexible demand in MENA
- The energy transition will being numerous local jobs and industries, leading to sustained prosperity and stability
Dii works closely with leading industry organizations to develop business opportunities and unlock emission-free projects. We are proud to have recently welcomed NEOM, Masen, ThyssenKrupp and NEL Hydrogen in our network
Integration of Renewables in the Energy Chains
Technology subjects considered
- PV, including industrial size rooftop
- Wind (on shore)
- Solar Thermal applications / with or without thermal storage
- Storage (power, heat, cooling, hydrogen)
- Power grid extensions and interconnections, including undersea cables
- Desalination in connection with renewables
- Hybridization, reaching better economics
- Innovations: Smart grid solutions, smart city, EHV, hydrogen
- Various demand side solutions levelling volatile supply through market based or controlled demand adaptations
Key Objectives in the field
- Accelerate Deployment by overcoming hurdles for emission-free technology projects
- Encourage transparent, open markets offering realistic price signals and showing true competitiveness of renewables
- Capture synergies through transmission capacities across national borders to reduce cost and to increase resilience as well as share-ability of renewables
- Participate in regional development through localization, job-creation, capacity building and know-how transfer
Our Charter
- Identify and find solutions for key hurdles for RE projects and grids
- Share best practice, regulatory knowledge and policy advice
- Add to assessments and planning of renewables projects and grid extensions
- Organize country specific workshops addressing local projects
- Host an exclusive Leadership Summit annually
- Participate in in-depth international programs
Our Focus Market
Dii is presently focusing on the Middle East North Africa (MENA) and the Mediterranean with Morocco, Spain, Italy and Greece as key interfaces. Dii will develop its capability to capture similar geographical markets with desert conditions such as Pakistan, South Africa, Namibia and Chile.
Integrating and Interconnecting: North Africa- West Asia - Southern Europe
Simulated RE Projects’ locations Vs actual operational projects’ location
The market is moving swiftly towards the utilization of the available RE potential as we can see below the latest project developments in the MENAT market follows the once proposed project locations in the region. Dii has identified more than 850 RE projects in the region on its march towards 100% renewables. (Source: Dii Project database)
The Dii Toolkit Initiative
Dii's "Toolkit for Renewable Energy Grid Integration, Project Development & Industry Localization" is derived from Dii's partners as well as RE industry expert professionals’ know-how, experience, & best practices. The objective of the Dii's Toolkit is to provide RE industry stakeholders, both private and public, with access to state-of-the-art measures & techniques (tools) which enable accelerated and smooth integration of large amounts of renewable energy into existing power grids & ensure tangible and durable benefits to the region.
Dii Toolkit Scope of Work:
- Toolkit checklist for bankability of RE projects, system requirements for RE grid integration, operators technical capability to manage high levels of variable RE generation, local industry & job creation & retention factors, business transparency factors.
- Practical tips on project development, public and private procurement and localization, thus assuring: best value for money, industry involvement, Job creation, sound financing, transparency & build of trust amongst stakeholders.
- Planning for gradual increase of RE generation at local, national, regional and international scale.
- Country case studies & sharing of know-how & expertise.
