The ambitious Desertec plan to supply Europe with solar power from the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East seems to have stalled. It could now be facing even greater problems as competitors arise and local opposition mounts.

...human rights organizations say there's just one thing missing from this picture: the people living in this region, where much energy is available and little used. And the organizations complain that they would enjoy practically no benefits from Desertec.

...the DII companies might already be falling behind. Plans call for construction to begin on a 2,000 megawatt solar power plant in the North African country already in 2015. Then, by 2017, a specially laid underwater cable should already be transporting power to Northern Europe via Italy. But the project isn't being run by DII. Instead, it is TuNur, a joint-venture company between the London-based Nur Energie Ltd. and Tunisian investors. Nur is the Arab word for light.

Till Stenzel, the German chief operating officer of Nur Energie, will reportedly implement the project on location and claims that much progress has already been made. Most importantly, he adds, TuNur has satisfied some of the demands that were voiced in the workshop. "We can have many components manufactured here," he says, and he estimates this could mean keeping up to 60 percent of the total investment within the country. "We calculate that, in the long run, we will be able to create up to 1,000 permanent jobs in the region," Stenzel says.

The article goes on to quote thinly veiled scepticism about the TuNur project... from Desertec.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}