Siemens AG, the manufacturer planning to supply turbines to the Sahara desert’s biggest solar project, expects its solar-equipment earnings to leap during the next few years, the company’s head of technology and research said.

Sales and earnings will each match the growth of its wind- energy unit, whose profit has risen an average 71 percent a year since 2004, Reinhold Achatz said, without estimating a figure. Wind-equipment income was 382 million euros ($565 million) in fiscal 2009, about 5 percent of Siemens’s total.

Europe’s largest engineering company will form a new solar division by combining its purchase of an Israeli parabolic mirror maker with some of Siemens’ turbine operations. Siemens agreed on Oct. 15 to buy solar-thermal power company Solel Solar Systems Ltd. for about $418 million to strengthen its portfolio of renewable-energy products.

Curved mirrors that focus sunlight to heat liquids are used in solar- thermal plants, slated for the Sahara project provided the $555 billion project is approved by European and African governments.

“Desertec is a project of that size we have to be interested in,” he said. “We want to be able to provide the technology and we have identified ways to improve technology. The big issue with all these renewable technologies is energy efficiency.”

EPi has experience in the development of solar thermal generation in Australia, including parabolic trough and integration of solar thermal with CCGT’s. See www.elemental power.com.au for more information.

See Bloomberg 9th Dec 2009 for the full article.