Transportation of solar energy from North Africa to Western Europe is investigated from the point of view of technique and cost in the form of a project study. It is assumed that 43% of the final energy consumption of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia for 1986 can thus be provided with an electric power proportion of 20%. The techniques and costs of three different transport systems are put forward: transport of energy by high-voltage direct-current transmission (HVDC transmission), via hydrogen in gas pipelines and a combination of the two systems. It emerges from this that the combined transport system has clear advantages over pure HVDC transmission and H-2 transport.
