Spanish Duro Felguera Suspends Work on Djelfa Power Station
Spain received a new blow from Algeria, and this time it came through the Duro Felguera company, which abandoned a project in the Wilaya of Djelfa (southern Algiers) worth 544 million euros, to build a combined cycle power plant.
In this context, Duro Felguera informed the Spanish National Securities Market Commission, via an official statement dated June 20, Checked out by Echorouk, that concerning the Djelfa combined cycle thermal power plant project in Algeria, and given the need to adapt it with the current situation, which has been significantly modified since its inception for reasons not attributable to the company, and after numerous attempts to find a solution, it was agreed at the Board of Directors meeting held on June 17, 2024 to suspend the works.
The memorandum of the Spanish company, which specializes in implementing engineering, procurement, construction and turnkey projects in the energy and industrial sectors, concluded by indicating that it will encourage taking the necessary measures to reach a final solution for all parties, without providing additional details about the reasons for suspending work on this huge station.
El Economista newspaper reported that the Spanish company had been negotiating for three months to amend the contract signed in 2014. Still, the discussions did not lead to a result and led to announcing the suspension of the works.
The project consists of establishing a power generation station with a capacity of 1,250 megawatts in the wilaya of Djelfa, which includes four gas turbines, two steam turbines, and four heat recovery tanks. The project extends over a completion period of 40 months.
For its part, the newspaper “Capital Madrid” reported that the diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Madrid had an economic impact, noting that the 69 Spanish companies currently present in Algeria showed that they were affected even after the return of the ambassadors, referring to the appointment of an ambassador for Algeria in Madrid months ago, adding that most of these companies have been warning of the worsening situation as a result of the diplomatic interruption.
June coincides with the second anniversary of the suspension of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborhood between Algeria and Spain, which came against the backdrop of Madrid’s shift in position on the issue of Western Sahara, which was announced by its Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, in March 2022, with his support for the Makhzen’s autonomy plan as a solution to the issue, a measure that caused large losses for Spanish companies amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.
A few days ago, the newspaper “El Nacional” commented that Algeria is not in a rush to make Spain pay a heavy price for its reversed position on the Western Sahara issue, because its dependency on Algerian gas will continue at least until 2035, explaining that the Algerian government, despite its extreme annoyance at the repositioning Spain in the Western Sahara issue, but the government of Pedro Sanchez knows that it has prepared a gift for Algeria and will reap it soon.
In this regard, the newspaper explained; “Algeria, a major gas producer, will be the biggest beneficiary of the politically and economically inappropriate decision, which will put an end to the nuclear electricity production industry in Spain by 2035.”
It concluded that “the time for Algeria’s turn will inevitably come, because Algeria, which was mistreated by the government of Pedro Sanchez, will inevitably try to collect its debts,” referring to its strong response to the Madrid government, and that will be in euros”, according to it.
“El Nacional” emphasized that the Sanchez government’s shift in position on the issue of Western Sahara will inevitably benefit Algeria because Spain’s dependence on Algerian gas will continue, and therefore the real battle will be played 11 years from now, referring to the ending dependence on nuclear energy in 2035.
