ACCORDING to reports, Saudi Arabia is to be investing in a ground-breaking British plan to beam solar power generated in space to a base in the North Sea, providing a round-the-clock supply of renewable energy.
Space Solar envisions putting photovoltaic panels into orbit to convert electricity into high-frequency radio waves transmitted to the surface. A kilometres-wide, net-like antennae strung between poles would convert the waves back to electricity.
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No site has been chosen for the ground receiver but the area required means the North Sea is being considered for the UK.
Proponents say the technology would address the intermittent nature of renewable energy and help meet climate change goals.
Saudi Arabia is reported interested in the scheme to help power its £409billion Neom green city in the desert, The Line, which is to be powered entirely by carbon-free electricity.
Satellite images have shown construction of the scheme appears to have started and Sam Adlen, joint chief executive of Space Solar, said the Saudi interest was twofold: the solar array could be redirected from the UK to send energy to The Line when needed, and the country was investing in “moonshot” technology.
According to The Times, UK Business secretary Grant Shapps met the Kingdom’s communications minister, Abdullah al-Swaha, last week and discussed the state providing future finance for a UK-based space solar project.
A UK Government source said Shapps’s meeting had involved authorities at Neom and discussed a possible Saudi investment in developing a UK-based space solar project.
Mr Adlen’s company has raised £3.5million to date, from a mix of funding from Neom and R&D funding from the UK Government. Yesterday he said it was significant that Saudi Arabia, which produces a tenth of the world’s oil, was taking the idea seriously.
“There’s a real partnership to be developed that can have a huge impact on the future of net zero, energy security and really help create an era-defining, new energy source,” he said.
Space Solar has a 12-year, £9.8billion plan, starting with a trial project in space within six years providing a small amount of power — six megawatts — from low Earth orbit. That would be followed by a 180MW scheme from a higher orbit, and a 2000MW version in geostationary orbit within 12 years.
