At present, more than 70 GW of electric capacity are being transmitted through High Voltage Direct Current transmission lines in over 95 projects world wide. Their main purpose is to actually transfer large amounts of hydro-power from remote sites to urban or industrial centers with high demands for electricity. Among these projects we could mention that of Itaipu in South America or the one linking the North Eastern United States (New England including New York City) that is currently fed with low-cost hydro-electricity generated out of Canada's large power dams located more than three thousand kilometers away (1900 miles). This distance actually represents a length of transmission lines that would be long enough to connect North Africa's Sahara desert wind resources to the middle of Europe.

 

The existing High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology enables large electricity transfers to limit cumulative line and AC-DC-AC converting losses, to less than 15% over a distance of 3500 km. Whereas the overall added costs per kilowatt/hour for such a long transmission line are lower then € 0.02/kWh.

The integration of North Africa’s most suitable wind resources to gradually supply the European electricity grid with low costs, market based wind-generated power from the Sahara Wind Project is technically feasible and would enable significant economies of scale to be achieved in support of the region's sustainable development.