Sonelgez, the state-owned utility of Algeria, has launched a tender for the development and the construction of 15 solar power plants with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW. These solar projects will have capacities ranging from 80 MW to 220 MW.
The renewable energy arm of the public utility, Sonelgez Energies Renouvelables (Sonelgaz-EnR) has issued the international tender to build the solar PV plants across 11 different Algerian municipalities. Interested national and international power developers will have to submit their bids by May 29.
Two solar plants with 80 MW and 120 MW will be developed in the Béchar region. The M’Sila and Batna regions will host two solar facilities with 80 MW each. Another 220 MW solar PV project is also proposed to be developed in the M’Sila region.
The El Oued region will have two solar projects of 200 MW and 80 MW capacities. The regions of Ghardaia and Langhout will respectively host 80 MW and 200 MW solar power plants.
The Biskra region is set to host the highest number of solar plants under the whole program, with three projects of 80 MW, 150 MW, and 200 MW capacities respectively. Another two solar projects of 220 MW and 130 MW are also planned to be built in the M’Ghair and Touggart regions, respectively.
The procurement rounds are part of the Algerian government’s plan to develop 15 GW of solar PV capacity by 2030. The broad initiative also includes the tender launched by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Renewable Energy in December 2021 to develop 1 GW of solar capacity in the country.
The launch of these two tenders which aim the development of an installed solar capacity of 3 GW in the time span of just over a year, confirm Algeria’s policy of diversifying its electricity mix. The overall production capacity of renewable energies in Algeria in 2021 was around 567 MW, according to the Commission for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE).
