Behind the monopolist horizon

Contemporary time seems to not favour big energetic sources.  There can be seen troubles on many sides. Big solar projects in North Africa, big hydro centrals and nuclear power plants are the most impressive examples.

One of them for instance is the huge energy project Desertec, which is common project of large, mainly German companies like Eon, RWE, Siemens, Munich Re, the German bank and others. It is a renewable project, but not decentralized with immense participation of big economic players.

In the last time have announced Siemens and Bosch that they leave this project. The reason seems to be clear - on one side falling prices of  renewable electricity generation, especially  the photovoltaic and at second  the nowadays political situation in Northern Africa, where is not to suppose, at least not for few coming years, stabile political  system. Also the transmission lines through Mediterranean See aren’t at this time real. Therefore ingravescent condition for a bank loans and the project starts to have financial troubles.

For solar energy devices located in the desert region can be also find others potential damage in cases of sand storms. The other disadvantage of Desertec project but  are also  the long lines from Northern Africa  to the European grid which will be connected with losses. This fact is partially undermining the twofold insolation in the Sahara region compared to Middle Europe.

 

According to the first calculation Desertec  should  cost 400 milliards euro and should in the future provide 15% of European electric energy consumption. The technical solution should be based on CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) plants in Northern Africa deserts, in combination  with wind generators electricity production on windy places in Mauretania and West Sahara. The energy from this big sources should be transported via high voltage electrical lines using  direct current through many thousand kilometres  to the Europe.

 

Es others big energy projects also Desertec has his own pitfalls. At the construction of the facilities and the connections lines is a gigantic number of many interested parties and therefore  are  the costs  hardly predictable. Each State of transit and transport lines will manoeuvre to get the best condition for himself, and it is also necessary to calculate with local resistances. This takes time and ultimately money because the return on investment will be delayed again.

The double amount of solar power in Northern Africa in comparison with middle Europe  is used as main argument for project enforcement. But the line losses on the large distance to Europe would be immense, the technical and political reliability critical. On top of that, the power plants have to be operated under extreme conditions, just think of sandstorms. The maintenance costs are not comparable to those of known plants.

The companies connected with Desertec project wants to extend the production and distribution structures used by today's energy systems into  the age of renewable energy. Desertec means electricity from of single consortium that controls production equipment and transmission lines. It is a way how to make solar power even under monopoly circumstances.

 

Falling prices of  former most expensive electrical source - photovoltaic - create so called “grid parity”, it means  the equalizing of photovoltaic production cost a the market price for electricity. This point has been reached in the year 2012 in southern European nations - Italy, Spain, Portugal, and in country with higher electricity taxes, in Germany.

They are working desert solar projects in own land, for example the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California Mojave desert or in sunny regions in southern Spain where are located  the projects Solnova Solar Power Station and the first European Spanish Andasol solar power station,  both of 150 MW power.  These projects are located in the country, where the main part of produced electricity will be consumed. Nor was this proposed for  Desertec, but in the changing times seems to be possible, that desert electricity will serve for North African cities. This will be the right solution.

For the Europe seems to be better solutions create CSP (Condensed Solar Power) within the area of EU, in countries, which have already enough sun shine and nowadays economical problems, for instance Spain, Greece or southern Italy. Local production of clean electricity will deliberate national economy from raising costs, from fossil dependence, and will create new economy and new working places.

Instead of big solar power plant it will be more suitable to build reasonable sources mainly for local consumption. For the villages in developing world will be more suitable small devices on roofs, connected  to local low voltage grid and nearby the bigger cities, adequate photovoltaic or CSP bigger devices. One of big advantage at CSP is the possibility of heat storage and therefore electricity production also during night or unkindly weather.

The local or regional photovoltaic devices can be combined with small or middle size wind turbines build on  places with sufficient average wind (more than 5 m/sec). It has been found that wind  energy can  serve very well as a complementary source. In many regions, there is more wind in the night or in rainy season.  Wind energy is has good conditions on see  or big lake shores. The small wind generators can be also fabricated on relatively simple manner in regional scales.

 

The big water dams are on one side production places for very low nett emission electricity production, but this production is proceed on one place, there must be created high voltage line to transport produced energy to the cities and industrial areas. This will be connected with big losses according to the length and unpleasant maintenance costs. In some big African countries (Sudan, Uganda and Angola), at the turn of the century was estimated, that losses in the grid are from 30% to 40% of initially feed electricity. High voltage line will not be used for electrification of small villages and hamlets. There is also big volumes of investment necessary for long lines building and their maintenance.

Some specifics are connected with common water use for energy production. Water is often used as a cooling medium in thermal power stations no matter if coal, gas or nuclear, either as a continuous cooling or in a cooling circuit with cooling towers. In the once-through cooling is expected that the rate of approximately 3.5 m³/s on 100 MW of installed electrical capacity brings warming of 10°C.  The waste heat is thus transferred to the water, which works towards thermal eutrophication. This can, mainly in higher Africa´s or South Asia´s  temperatures, cause ecological damage of systems, by lowering oxygen concentration. In a refrigeration cycle with cooling towers is reduced the heat input to water up to 10% compared to the once-through cooling. But in the evaporates water  escapes into the atmosphere heat. A part of the circulated cooling water must be let off regularly. But this water contains chemical additives, such as flocking agents, corrosion inhibitors, surfactants, etc., from the conditioning of the circuit water.

In the USA, the average water evaporation at thermal electricity production is about 2.6 litres/kWh for coal, oil or gas, and up to 3.2 litres/kWh at NPP. Average water consumption for thermoelectric generation is 1.8 l / kWh but for the hydro power generation 68 l / kWh. Water evaporation from the large area of ​​the reservoirs is responsible for the surprisingly large water consumption. The figure is based only on the increase in the area, the more influence (the shading of the river with trees and steep banks) were not taken into consideration. It was found that the evaporation of the river flux in comparison with the evaporation from dam lakes in the United States average make only 3.2% by weight.

In Africa, the water temperature is higher, which means, for physical reasons, a lower thermodynamic efficiency of the thermal power generation and a greater rate of evaporation. If all of the hydropower potential in sub-Saharan Africa implement dams, more than 4500 m3 of water per second will be evaporate.

The thermoelectric power generation, as well as the construction of large dams in Africa on a large scale, can have negative ecological and social consequences. Possibly even more negative influences - the expulsion of the indigenous population. This happens to the Tonga tribes living on the  Zambezi river shore, in the time when Kariba lake on Zambia/Zimbabwe boarder has been build.

Further disadvantage of the big dam is the loss of the original river biotopes. The big dams have also other problems, like  accumulation of various material in a dam lake,  for instance  the mud in High Asuan Dam build in second half of last century in Egypt,  the newest Three Gorges  dam in China or hundred  thousand  floating tree stems  as it is was the case in some Siberian river dams.

The renewable and sustainable concept of water energetic is another.  Small, ecological reliable and decentralized ways of water use are available floating power plants, imbedded newly discovered electric buoys. Electric floating devices represent economical and ecological use of water energy; they do not damage the water life ant it is decentre a immediately installable resource. They also cause don´t flooding the river valley and their installation is very quick. Floating hydro power source can be installed immediately.

 

Also the nuclear power plants (NPP) are in the last time in big troubles. Two NPP are now build in EU - nuclear reactor in Finnish Olkiluoto and second in French  Flammanville.  The death line and the construction cost are rising in both cases.  On beginning of the building Olkiluoto3 NPP it  has been announced that the grid connection  will occur in the year 2009. After few delays, in February 2013 were announced the final point  completion  not earlier than in the year 2016. New Finnish NPP  building is well known as perpetual  term prolongation and budget increasing,  apart from the fact that on the building are also Polish workers and they get  - because they are employs of polish companies -  2 euro hourly only. The prices for the nuclear electricity are in general permanent rising, and many years ago they are higher than those from coal power plants.

British company ..... has announced that will not participate on building of new reactors.

The mainly part of new NPP now is building in east in China, South Korea and India, one of them (Jaipur) in coastal region endangered by earthquake.

Also some African countries have  announced their interest in nuclear energy.  It is to suppose, that this is due to big interest of nuclear production firms in Europe and North America on seeking and reaching new markets. Building a huge centralized sources in developing countries, where have sufficient and profitable renewable energy potentials - mainly solar radiation or energy from big rivers, as in Nigeria, is a technical, economical and social mistake. The other reason against big power plant is due to small inhabitant density in developing countries. This means, huge losses and big infrastructure building and maintenance costs.

 Some African countries are political instable and this are not good  circumstances for nuclear energy production and nuclear material  ownership.  Also the need for nuclear power from view of military point of interest should be calculated. The contemporary western ideology is based on nuclear predominance and discouragement.

 

But against nuclear power are speaking also medical reasons. In few countries has been found, that the distance between residence place and the nuclear power plant  and the occurrence of leukaemia for small children  until 5 years gives clear connection, as well as  loss of girls births.  The inexistence of end storage facility for nuclear waste, and damage of terroristic or military attacks and the everyday possibility of radioactive leaks is also crucial. In many countries is a public resistance against nuclear power. According the referendum in Austria in nineties  has been forbidden the exploitation of nuclear energy for energy production by law. After Fukushima disaster Germany has stopped 8 NPP. It has been stopped also others nuclear projects in various countries, for example in Bulgaria.

 

To realize small electric device seems to be on technical level small problem. Photovoltaic eventually with wind  generators in cooperation and today’s electronic device can provide local 230 V and 50 Hz without big investments and troubles. The price of photovoltaic panel is falling down, partially driven, by the low cost China production. But the price is driving down not only because of the scale effect, but as well for very promising new research.  They are announced and in labs tested new generations of photovoltaic cells, with lower quantity of photovoltaic silicon, but with doubled efficiency. This type should be able to produce electricity from coal on the level of wholesale price of coal power plant.

The common view on big  energy project brings repeatedly  budget and ecological, or healthy  problems. Almost all big projects, not only huge power plants, but also others building plans are in the first plans phases much more cheaper  than to the end of the building process. This can be seen in various plans in contemporary world, some traffic infrastructure as German project Stuttgart21. To get public agreement the politician are in decision period using lower prices and then announced the price growth. This cannot happen to the small  and decentral resources needed for sustainable living not only in developing countries.