Algeria's 1-GW solar project to produce first power at end-2023

The first electricity from Algeria's 1-GW Solar 1,000 scheme is expected to be produced at the end of 2023, the director-general of Shaems, the state-owned company overseeing the large-scale project, said on Sunday.

A 30-MW solar park that is to be built in Beni Ounif in the Bechar province as part of the 1-GW initiave could start producing power at the end of next year or the beginning of 2024 at the latest, Ismail Mougari told state-owned news agency Algeria Press Service.

The clean power generated by the Beni Ounif solar farm will be sold exclusively and completely to state-owned electricity and natural gas distributor Sonelgaz for a period of 25 years, Mougari said.

The call for tenders for the deployment of 1 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity across Algeria opened in December. The deadline for submitting proposals was set for June 15 but was once again extended following a request by local and international investors who need more time to conduct detailed financial and technical studies.

In the auction, the state will allocate the total capacity in lots of between 50 MW and 300 MW. As many as 11 sites have already been selected for the solar plants.

The ambitious scheme supports Algeria's renewable energy programme aimed at the installation of about 15 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2035.

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