A statement by Katrin-Susanne Richter, Director of the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation, on the DESERTEC Concept "Clean Power from Deserts" and the developments in North Africa and the Middle East:

The recent developments in several Arabian countries illustrate how important it is to improve the economic prospects for the growing population in North Africa and the Middle East. The DESERTEC Concept “Clean Power from Deserts” therefore provides a suitable approach, as it is not only beneficial for climate protection, but in particular supports the socio-economic development in the countries where the projects will be carried out, through a transfer of knowledge, investments and the creation of jobs in a new, sustainable industrial sector. Also for reasons of security policy, it is useful for Europe, particularly at the present time, to support an energy co-operation such as the DESERTEC Concept.

By founding the DESERTEC University Network in October 2010, the DESERTEC Foundation already actively supports international academic cooperation and the on-site training of specialists in the area of renewable energy in the desert regions. The DESERTEC University Network has been initiated mainly by institutes and DESERTEC-associates from the countries south of the Mediterranean.

The implementation of DESERTEC entails a long-term approach. In fact, we do not expect the plans to be substantially disadvantaged by the recent developments. The destruction in Tunisia and Egypt had no power plants or power lines in focus. The DESERTEC Foundation hopes that the solar plans of these countries will be continued.