Sahar solar farm project to power Europe?

Heard something on "The World" - a joint BBC/PRI production - this
afternoon talking about plans to build huge solar farms in the Sahara
to provide power to all of Europe. The claim was made that if only 3%
of the sunlight that falls on the Sahara could be captured as
electricity, it could power all of Europe and the UK.

Okay, maybe.

But then they started talking about a new transcontinental power grid
to deliver the juice northward ... and they said it would be DC,
because AC transmission involves too much loss.

Huh?

Has anybody else heard anything else about this?

(Stream the piece at http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/19655)

Quoting from an article in The Guardian:

[quote]

A new supergrid, transmitting electricity along high voltage direct
current cables would allow countries such as the UK and Denmark
ultimately to export wind energy at times of surplus supply, as well
as import from other green sources such as geothermal power in
Iceland.

Energy losses on DC lines are far lower than on the traditional AC
ones, which make transmission of energy over long distances
uneconomic.

[end quote]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/23/solarpower.windpower
I thought line losses was one of the primary reasons to use AC rather
than Dc...
.

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