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The World From Berlin

New Energy Projects 'Not a Magic Bullet'

Two major power projects got the go-ahead this week: the biggest solar energy project in the world and a politically challenging gas pipeline. Commentators were cautious with their praise, pointing out various difficulties with the plans and calling for a European-wide energy initiative.

This week began with two major energy undertakings getting the green light, both with major implications for the future of energy security in the European Union nations and beyond.

The first -- the Desertec project -- is one of the most ambitious and expensive power projects in the world. This project, supported by some of German business' heaviest hitters, seeks to establish a belt of solar energy technology across North Africa and the Middle East, and then a "super grid" underneath the Mediterranean Sea to ship the power back to central Europe.

Desertec got its start yesterday with organizations like Deutsche Bank, energy giants RWE and E.ON, major insurer Munich Re and electro-engineering leader Siemens, all pledging to raise an estimated €400 billion ($560 billion) to get the project off the ground.

The second project was the Nabucco pipeline, a 3,300 kilometer gas pipeline that will bring natural gas into Europe from the Caspian Sea via Turkey and the Balkans. Signatories have wrangled over the signing of the deal for four years but finally, yesterday, pens were put to paper. By bypassing Russia, the signatories to the pipeline project -- Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey -- hope to loosen Russia's stranglehold on European gas supplies. This caused a problem earlier in the year when a pricing dispute between the Ukraine and Russia left many Europeans without gas.

Supporters claim the Desertec project will be producing power within 10 years and those behind the Nabucco pipeline say the first gas should be pumped through within five years.

German media commentators are generally optimistic about these moves toward a mixture of energy sources for Germany and Europe. Some pointed out that political realities may be more complicated than expected while others seized the opportunity to further criticize Germany's nuclear energy policies.

The conservative Die Welt enthuses that this could even be the beginning of a new era.

"Two good decisions for energy in one day -- that's unusual. Nabucco is the opening up of a new import path that will reduce dependence on Russia. Desertec meanwhile is both bold and ambitious. It has a little bit of a Jules Verne-style fantasy about it -- but it is a fantasy grounded in reality because 12 major organizations are contributing to making it happen. And even if they don't achieve the goal of providing 15 per cent of all of Europe's power needs by 2050, this is still a very loud signal. It could even be signaling the end of the oil era."

"What both projects have in common is that they are about the diversification of energy sources. And the more options the better. It would be silly to head out on the path to less petroleum with only wind power, biogas and the inefficient German solar energy plants to rely upon."

"The voices of reason have been recommending a mixture of energy sources for a while, one that doesn't exclude any particular technology or dwell under the illusion that there is one perfect, problem-free solution. If everything works out with Nabucco and Desertec, then Europe will be a step further toward this mixture."

"The choir of critics of both projects is large and includes everyone from German solar panel manufacturers to Russian natural gas firms. But problems are there to be solved. As President Kennedy said in 1962, "we choose to go to the moon and do the other things … not because they are easy. But because they are hard."

The business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes that while Desertec is a great move forward for renewable energy sources, what is really needed is some sort of pan-European effort.

"One shouldn't have any illusions. Solar energy from the North African deserts is not a magic bullet for the future of European energy. Desertec can only be a complementary measure. And most of Europe's power requirements must be provided by energy sources in Europe itself."

"Various studies have indicated that Europe can do this -- and at acceptable costs -- if the political will is there. Today we raise barely eleven percent of our energy from environmentally friendly sources. And up until now there has only been accord over medium-term goals, ones that only apply to certain member states. What is missing is a pan-European strategy to help shift reliance from fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources."

"However with energy issues, national interests tend to dominate. The wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine - which is why we need a transnational grid to bring renewable energy to all of Europe. So when the North Sea is flat German energy sources could be enhanced by Swedish or Alpine hydropower, together with bio-gas works on standby as well as a variety of domestic power plants."

"A flexible and intelligent energy network is the first step toward educating the European domestic market on the subject of renewable energy. To get the innovation going, we need transnational research as well as shared pilot plants -- just like those Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) put into practice. For this we require a European collective. Such a collective should not ignore national perspectives, rather, it should inspire a common directive. Such a collective would also give the European Union new impetus. We saw similar European-wide efforts for coal and steel in the 50s and 70s. Now is the time for Europe to become a trailblazer in the energy business."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung outlines some of the issues that should not be forgotten while the energy projects are being celebrated.

"Both projects are noteworthy, visionary and utterly ambitious. The desert power project is a futuristic dream. However it seems that the technical specifications for the building of generators and the grids are being taken as a given, despite the fact the majority of them are unproven. And has anyone asked the countries taking part for their opinions? They may insist on having some of the clean energy for their own development. Additionally this is all going to cost a lot of money: The talk is of €400 billion. That is one thing this clean power isn't going to be: cheap."

"All of which is why the Nabucco gas pipeline is equally important. It won't stop our dependence on Russian gas interests but it might make it more bearable. That's true for the Europeans as well as the countries taking part -- Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. If the Europeans can buy their gas directly from these countries, it could help the nations in Russia's backyard become stronger and more independent. The politicians realized this - albeit quite late on in the process -- and helped make the pipeline deal a reality."

"The Ankara deal (Nabucco pipeline) signed yesterday is an important step on the way to ensuring power supplies in the future. But it is not a guarantee."

Meanwhile the center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung takes the opportunity to criticize Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratis for supporting nuclear energy, especially in light of recent events at the Krümmel reactor.

"The mixture of energy sources is changing faster than most experts expected. In 2000, when the Red-Green coalition (the previous government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder) decided to phase out nuclear power generation in Germany, wind and water only provided around seven percent of German energy. Nine years later and that figure has doubled. Even careful estimates suggest that by 2022, when the last nuclear power plants are going offline, it could be five times as much."

"A conflict between renewable and conventional energy has been brewing for a long time. But the future is in projects like Desertec or in the Nabucco pipeline. And the broad energy mix that the CDU has long dreamt of will never become a reality. The synthesis of coal-fuelled power, nuclear energy and renewables will only work if the latter is weak. And the latter is getting stronger by the day."

"Rapidly falling prices, technological advances and an increased desire to protect the environment and guard against climate change. There's a lot going for renewable energy now -- and not much for atomic or coal-fired energy. This fight the CDU is waging for the Krümmel reactor and for nuclear energy is a battle from the past."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes that the Nabucco pipeline will be a challenge in many ways, not the least of which will be in foreign affairs.

"Is it useful to bury €8 billion in a gas pipeline we don't even know how to fill at the moment? Because that is exactly what the European Union --and in particular, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria together with Turkey -- have decided to do. Wouldn't it be more sensible to invest the money in renewable energy sources?"

"However, assuming that, by the middle of the century, sun, wind and biogas won't be enough to meet all our energy needs, gas is certainly still a better option than nuclear or coal-fired energy."

"The problems for the Nabucco pipeline are huge. Independence from Russia's Gazprom is risky. To make the pipeline profitable, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkey must work with Iran. And finally the EU must outbid Gazprom. In short, the pipeline is an enormous challenge. Nonetheless, the attempt is a good one. After all, the alternatives are almost total dependence on Russian gas, plus more coal and nuclear energy."

Cathrin Schaer, 3 p.m. CET