Terna becomes latest shareholder in Desertec

Thursday, Oct 07, 2010

Terna S.p.A., the Italian Transmission and System Operator, first in Europe among independent grid operators and seventh in the world with over 62,000 km of lines, has today joined Dii as a shareholder, acquiring the same share participation in the company as the existing shareholders. The industry initiative Dii focuses on power generation from sun and wind in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and transmission to local demand and partly to the European interconnected grid.

"We are very pleased to be part of the Desertec project", stated Terna’s CEO Flavio Cattaneo . "The mission and goals of the initiative are fully shared and supported by Terna that has always evaluated with great interest the opening of new markets through developing electricity interconnections and transferring know how between Europe and the southern Mediterranean area for an effective cooperation toward its technological and economic development ".

Paul van Son, CEO of the Dii: "We are delighted to welcome Terna to our international company network. Apart from creating a framework for power generation in desert regions, power transmission from North Africa to the European markets is another important element for Desertec. Italy is a key country for us due to its geographical location and its proximity to Tunisia. In addition, given its core expertise as a national grid operator Terna can contribute to our joint venture with valuable knowledge about the integration of renewable energy into electric grids."

Dii is now backed by 18 shareholders and 25 Associated Partners which together form a strong initiative from the international business sector to promote large-scale renewable energy generation and transmission. Moreover, STEG Renouvelables, a subsidiary of Tunisian utility company STEG, has also declared to join Dii, broadening the shareholder base from North Africa and, thus, supporting Dii’s partnership approach to bring the Desertec vision into reality.

Dii was founded in 2009 and aims to create the framework for generating sustainable and climate-friendly power from sun and wind energy in the deserts and prepare the integration with the European energy market. The long-term goal is to satisfy both a substantial part of the energy needs of the MENA countries and to meet about 15% of Europe’s electricity demand by 2050.

The vision of large-scale renewable energy generation in the deserts will also be in the center of discussions at Dii’s first Annual Conference in Barcelona (26th and 27th of October 2010). The conference will be opened with a keynote speech by EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger. Further topics of discussion will include power generation in desert regions, grid requirements and transmission, socio-economic development in MENA and the important issue of a favorable regulatory framework and specific support schemes for desert power.

About Dii (www.dii-eumena.com):

Dii is an international initiative which was launched as ‘Desertec Industrial Initiative’ in July 2009. On 30 October 2009, Dii was legally founded under German law as a GmbH (limited liability company). The company is located in Munich.

Shareholders of Dii:

ABB | Abengoa Solar | Cevital | DESERTEC Foundation | Deutsche Bank | Enel Green Power | E.ON |Flagsol | HSH Nordbank | Munich Re | M+W Group | NAREVA Holding | Red Eléctrica de España | RWE |Saint-Gobain Solar | SCHOTT Solar | Siemens | Terna (Italy)

Associated Partners of Dii:

3M | AGC | Audi | Bearing Point | Bilfinger Berger | Bosch Rexroth | Commerzbank | Concentrix Solar | Conergy | Evonik Industries | First Solar | FLABEG | Fraunhofer Gesellschaft | IBM | ILF | Italgen | KAEFER |Lahmeyer International | Maurisolaire | Morgan Stanley | NUR ENERGIE | OMV | Schoeller Renewables
TERNA ENERGY (Greece) | TÜV SÜD

Source: Terna