A consortium of 20 firms, including Siemens AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Munich Re, plans to build a $555.3 billion solar power project in Africa.

The project, which aims to have solar power flowing from the deserts of North Africa to Europe within the next decade, will start with a meeting on July 13, an executive from the German insurance giant Munich Re told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Details about the other consortium members weren’t shared.

According to Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek, the initiative aimed to present concrete plans in two to three years time. Munich Re will lead the project, and the meeting in July will formally establish the group.

The solar power plants would be built under the project Desertec, which was developed by a network of scientists and politicians called the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC). As per the plans, the project envisions relatively low-tech solar thermal power -- using mirrors in the desert to heat up water, which drives turbines in a local power plant. It requires a new grid of high-voltage transmission lines from the Maghreb desert to Europe.

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