An AFP report notes that two European companies, Total and Abengoa Solar, are working with the Abu Dhabi company Masdar on what will become the world's largest concentrated solar plant, with a potential capacity of 100 megawatts.
AFP quoted the state-owned Masdar as announcing that the two European countries have been named as partners "to build and operate Shams 1, the world's largest concentrated solar plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East."
Concentrated solar thermal technology can generate large amounts of energy, powering thousands of homes. The technology works by placing a large number of reflecting panels in a way that focuses sunlight onto a container of liquid that becomes superheated.
While this project is set to become the largest concentrated solar plant in the Middle East, it may not be the most ambitious solar energy project awaiting the region in the coming years. There has also been talk of using large swaths of empty and sun-baked Sahara Desert land to power much of Europe several decades from now.
