BRUSSELS, Nov 24: Two major European consortiums joined forces on Thursday in an ambitious project to capture solar and wind energy across Arab deserts in order to power homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The German-led Desertec Industry Initiative (DII) signed a memorandum of understanding with Medgrid, founded by French energy giants, on the sidelines of a meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels.

“By joining efforts and coordinating their approaches, the two initiatives take a truly European dimension,” said EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

“There is now a concrete perspective of solar and wind energy being produced for the joint benefit of European and northern African and Middle Eastern citizens,” he said, adding that the markets would also benefit from the project.

DII, whose shareholders include German industry giant Siemens, major lender Deutsche Bank and power supplier EON, wants to produce solar and wind power in the deserts of north Africa and the Middle East.

The group’s goals is to meet 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand by 2050.—AFP