Medgrid project, created at the end of 2010 in Paris, is a large industrial project planned in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
, which aims to promote and develop a Euro-Mediterranean
electricity network
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
that would provide North Africa & Europe with inexpensive
renewable electricity
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, mostly from
solar.
The goal is to install 20
gigawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s (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
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
electrical grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
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