The SSB Project

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I heard about this project last year. Then I thought it must have been a joke. But the SSB project really exists. SSB stands for Sahara Solar Breeder. Its aim is to supply the photovoltaic electricity to adjacent cities in North Africa and even Europe, and further more to all over the world for the paradigm shift in the global energy production system from the current fossil fuel base to the nature-dependent steady energy base. This project started in 2008 and is based on the Project coordinated by the University of Tokyo and the University of Science and Technology of Oran in Algeria.



The SSB Project consists of three plans. One is to install solar panels on Sahara Desert, two is the panels are made from Sahara sand, and the last is to design high-tech superconducting cable system to transmit its photovoltaic electricity to cities without loss.



About the first plan;

Sahara Desert is the size of almost the United States, and covers 86% of the total area of Algeria. It is an empty place except plenty of sands and sunlight, so focusing on Sahara for their purpose is quite logical. Algeria calls it Three Ss Project--- Solar, Sand and Space.

In August, 2010, the University of Science and Technology of Oran and JICA signed the agreement of establishing a Sahara Energy Research Center. The Center was located in the University of Saida, which is known as the gate of Algerian Sahara Desert.



About making solar panels from sands;

It costs a lot to manufacture Solar panels from high-purity Si (silicon). Therefore they aim to use Sahara sand which contains a lot of SiO2 (silica). So, the project involves building silicon-manufacturing plants powered. Those plants refine silica in the desert sand to silicon. Then, once panels made from the silicon are operating, some of the energy they generate will be used to build more silicon plants. It means that the plants are more and more evolving to reach a large-scale system.

The stage of work is now still an experimental verification stage.



About the high-tech Superconductor;

Transmitting electricity through a long distance cable, the quantity of electricity is lessening because of cable resistance. They need to solve power transmission loss problem. So, they have worked out a superconducting dc (direct current) transmission and distribution systems. It requires superconducting power lines keep cold by liquid nitrogen.

In 2010, Chubu University performed an experiment. They built a 200 m DC superconducting cable and succeeded in transmitting electricity with zero-resistance.





Criticism from a rival company;

The Desertec Foundation, which is working on the same problem from different aspect, has criticized this project. They indicated the silicon-manufacturing factories have to overcome Sahara environmental hazard such as sandstorms and shifting dune.

Regarding the superconductor, the Desertec spokesman said, “There is not really a need for superconductors. By using high-voltage direct current transmission lines, it is possible to transport clean power from the deserts over long distances to centers of consumption.” ---adding that the technology is already used in dozens of projects worldwide.



The ultimate goal of the SSB project is to build enough plants to provide 50 % of the world’s electricity by 2050, however the Desertec Foundation has a more reasonable goal, which is to supply only 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2050 without using Sahara sand for its solar panels and high-tech superconductors.





Koinuma, the leader of the Japanese team from the University of Tokyo, disagrees with these comments. In addition to that, he has announced another major aim of the project. It is to train scientists and engineers from developing countries. He said, “The project won’t just bring well-understood technology from developed countries, but will involve people from both developing and developed countries working together on R&D right from the outset.”