There has been talk of tapping into the Sahara desert’s vast resources of sunshine to power Europe for years, but little to show for it.

The high-profile Desertec initiative, conceived with 19 shareholders and a budget of €400 billion, flopped amid cost concerns and political instability across North Africa.

Now a massive project in Tunisia is hoping to be the first to make the solar power export dream a reality. Developer TuNur filed a permit request to the energy ministry to build 4.5GW of capacity near Rjim Maatoug, in the southwest of the country.

From Climate Change News. Story by Megan Darby.

The electricity generated is destined for Europe, with cables under the sea to Malta, Italy and France.

If all goes smoothly, TuNur chief executive Kevin Sara told Climate Home a first 250MW phase, with a connection to Malta, could be running by 2020, for an estimated €1.6 billion investment.

Read more at Climate Change News.