By Joel Stonington Spiegel Online November 13, 2012 As recently as three years ago, many thought that it was only a matter of time before solar thermal plants in North Africa supplied a significant portion of Europe's energy needs. But Desertec has hit a road block. Industrial backers are jumping ship, political will is tepid and a key pilot project has suddenly stalled. "Part of the problem is historical distrust. No country wants to import electricity and energy security is often at the top of national objectives. Further, the costs of supporting energy production and transmission were noted by German members of parliament at the Desertec conference. " ""Everybody is staring at each other and nobody moves," said Sven Teske, director of renewable energy at Greenpeace. "In this deadly, sometimes embarrassing silence, everybody is praising the project. And then silence again" "When Desertec launched in 2009, it had a long list of corporate shareholders and partners. Today the list of shareholders includes Deutsche Bank, reinsurance company Munich RE, UniCredit, and utilities E.ON and RWE. But two major backers have recently withdrawn support: industrial giant Siemens and Bosch, the world's largest auto parts supplier. Siemens cited cost-cutting measures and its withdrawal was consistent with its recent retreat on all things solar. Still, the company was a founding member."