Algerian Authorities Announce Revival Of German “Desertec” Solar Energy Project

The Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, announced, on Thursday in Algiers, the signing, next April, of a memorandum of understanding between the national Sonelgaz Group and the Dii Desert Energy (“Desertec”) initiative.

Replying to a question from APS news Agency on cooperation with the “Desertec” initiative in the field of renewable energy, on the sidelines of the National Conference of the National Federation of Workers in the Electricity and Gas Industries (FNTIEG), Mr. Arkab said that the agreement was geared to engaging in cooperation with the German “Desertec” initiative in the field of renewable solar and wind energy.

Mr. Arkab announced “the signing, next April, of a memorandum of understanding between the public group Sonelgaz and the Dii Desert Energy (“Desertec”) group, covering technical and training areas”.

The cooperation between the Sonelgaz Group and “Desertec” comes at a time when the Government is urging, in its action plan, for the implementation of the program of the President of the Republic, M. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, stressing that priority will be given to renewable energies through the development of a program for the production of 15,000 megawatts of electricity by 2030.

The CEO of the Sonelgaz Group, Chaher Boulakhras for his part reaffirmed the willingness to integrate again, the initiative of the international consortium Dii Desert Energy in the development of renewable energy.

The Sonelgaz Group has been entrusted with the implementation of renewable energy development programs in view of the importance of Algeria’s solar energy deposit and its large surface area, he said.

“Our cooperation with Dii Desert Energie is very important because we have set ambitious and promising objectives in the field of renewable energies,” he said.

As a reminder, a delegation from the energy sector, composed of the heads of the CREG, Sonelgaz, and the Commissariat for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency had recently participated in the 10th Arab-German Energy Forum in Berlin (Germany).

The Ministry of Energy had underlined  Algeria’s keen interest in cooperating with the German consortium DII Desert Energy (“Desertec”) in order to strengthen capacities for the production of energy from renewable sources and better integrate them into the Algerian electricity system.

In 2009, a group of large German companies, united in Dii Desert Energy (then known as the “Desertec Industry Initiative”), launched the idea of implementing solar and wind projects in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East (MENA).