New findings from Dr Anthony Patt of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Africa shows that the proposed supergrid that could power all of Europe with renewable energy only would need around £50 billion of government funded money to become a reality.

The £50 billion government investment would, according to Patt, convince private companies that the supergrid idea is both “feasible” and “attractive”, the Guardian reports.

“In the long term, such a plan, combined with strings of windfarms along the north Africa coast, could “supply Europe with all the energy it needs”.

He said technological advances combined with falling costs have made it realistic to consider north Africa as Europe’s main source of imported energy.

“The sun is very strong there and it’s very reliable. There is starting to be a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa….that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies. The cost of moving [electricity] long distances has really come down.”

According to Patt only a small fraction of the Saharan desert would be needed to produce enough energy for the whole of Europe.

Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission’s Institute for Energy have said that the solar energy from the Saharan desert would be cheap and “below what the average consumer is paying:”

“The biggest PV system at the moment is installed in Leipzig and the price of the installation is €3.25 per watt. If we could realise that in the Mediterranean, for example in southern Italy, this would correspond to electricity prices in the range of 15 cents per kWh, something below what the average consumer is paying.”

So what are we waiting for!?