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Medgrid

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated May 4, 2025

Medgrid project, created at the end of 2010 in Paris, is a large industrial project planned in North Africa, which aims to promote and develop a Euro-Mediterranean electricity network that would provide North Africa & Europe with inexpensive renewable electricity, mostly from solar. The goal is to install 20 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity, with 5 GW being devoted for exports to Europe.

The Medgrid project was envisioned by a consortium of twenty plus utilities, grid operators, equipment makers, financing institutions and investors, mostly European.

On 24 Nov 2011, a MoU was signed between Medgrid and Desertec Industry Initiative (Dii) to study, design and promote an interconnected electrical grid with the 400 billion euro ($536 billion) renewable energy 'Desertec' project in North Africa. The medgrid together with Desertec would serve as the backbone of the 'European Supergrid' and the benefits of investing in HVDC technology are being assessed to reach the final goal, the 'SuperSmart Grid (SSG)'.

01History

Background

As per the statement made by Dr Gerhard Knies, German physicist and founder of the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) network of researchers - "The world’s deserts collect more energy from the sun in six hours than mankind consumes in an entire year". It illustrates the idea behind the ambitious project - Medgrid which will exploit solar energy from desert areas.

The Sahara desert was chosen as an ideal location for solar farms as they enjoy strong direct sunlight for much of the year (3,000 to 4,000 hours of sunlight per year). In addition, the deserts are sparsely populated, making it possible to set up large solar farms. Lastly, sand deserts can provide silicon, a raw material that is essential in the production of solar panels.

Inception of Medgrid consortium (July 2010 - present)

Complementing a similar Saharan desert based renewable energy project - DESERTEC, the industrial project Transgreen was launched in Paris in July 2010 as a French initiative within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). A consortium of twenty-plus, mostly European, utilities, grid operators, equipment makers, financing institutions and investors envisioned the company named Medgrid in December 2010. The aim was to promote and develop a Euro-Mediterranean electricity network that would provide North Africa & Europe with inexpensive renewable electricity, mostly from solar. The goal is to install 20 GW of generating capacity, with 5 GW being devoted for exports to Europe. France and Morocco will launch the first experiment to transport solar power from the south to the north of the Mediterranean.

Since the Euro-Mediterranean projects, Medgrid and Desertec are both attempting to generate solar energy from deserts and complement each other, a MoU was signed on 24 Nov 2011 between Medgrid and Desertec Industry Initiative (Dii) to study, design and promote an interconnected electrical grid with the 400 billion euro ($536 billion) renewable energy "Desertec" project in North Africa. The plan is to build five interconnections at a cost of around 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion), including between Tunisia and Italy. The activities of Dii and Medgrid are covered by the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP), a political initiative within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

In March 2012 Dii, Medgrid, Friends of the supergrid and Renewables Grid Initiative signed a joint declaration to support the effective and complete integration, in a single electricity market, of renewable energy from both large-scale and decentralised sources, which shall not be played out against each other in Europe and in its neighbouring regions.

The medgrid together with Desertec would serve as the backbone of the 'European Supergrid' and the benefits of investing in HVDC technology are being assessed to reach the final goal, the 'SuperSmart Grid (SSG)'.

A conceptual plan of a European super grid linking renewable energy projects like DESERTEC & Medgrid across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and could serve as the backbone for the hypothetical supersmart grid.
A conceptual plan of a European super grid linking renewable energy projects like DESERTEC & Medgrid across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and could serve as the backbone for the hypothetical supersmart grid.
Union for the Mediterranean member countries potentially benefiting by the Mediterranean Solar Plan Members of the European Union Other members Observer members
Union for the Mediterranean member countries potentially benefiting by the Mediterranean Solar Plan Members of the European Union Other members Observer members
The red squares represent the area that would be enough for solar power plants to produce a quantity of electricity consumed by the world in 2005, in Europe (EU-25) and Germany. (Data provided by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), 2005)
The red squares represent the area that would be enough for solar power plants to produce a quantity of electricity consumed by the world in 2005, in Europe (EU-25) and Germany. (Data provided by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), 2005)

02Consortium

The consortium of twenty plus utilities, grid operators, equipment makers, financing institutions and investors include,

The consortium is led by André Merlin, CEO of Medgrid.

Schematic plan of the European Supergrid
Schematic plan of the European Supergrid
Existing links Under construction Proposed See also the List of HVDC project in Europe, which would eventually be part of European Supergrid
Existing links Under construction Proposed See also the List of HVDC project in Europe, which would eventually be part of European Supergrid
Watch videos about MedgridExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Medgrid”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

SuperSmart Grid

The SuperSmart Grid is a hypothetical wide area electricity network connecting Europe with northern Africa, the Middle East, and the IPS/UPS system of CIS countries. The system would unify super grid and smart grid capabilities into a comprehensive network.

Desertec

Desertec is a non-profit foundation aimed at sustainably and ecologically producing electricity in sunny regions of the world. Sunny deserts are therefore the focus.

European super grid

The European super grid is a hypothetical super grid which ultimately would interconnect the various European countries and the regions around Europe's borders, including North Africa, Kazakhstan, and Turkey, with a high-voltage direct current power grid. It is envisaged that a European super grid would: lower the cost of power in all participating countries by allowing the entire region to share the most efficient power plants; pool load variability and power station unreliability, reducing the margin of inefficient spinning reserve and standby that have to be supplied; allow for wider use of renewable energy, particularly wind energy, from the concept that "it is always windy somewhere", in particular it tends to be windy in the summer in North Africa, and windy in the winter in Europe; allow wide sharing of the total European hydro power resource, which is about 6 weeks of full load European output; decrease Europe's dependence on imported fuels.