Algeria has placed the energy transition at the center of the diversification process of the economy and looks to Italy as a natural partner for the implementation of its strategy. The country’s government aims to achieve production of one thousand mega vt from renewable energy by the end of 2021.
To achieve its goal, Algeria is preparing to launch several calls for tenders for the implementation of energy projects according to the public-private partnership scheme. At the center of the Algerian government’s agenda, in fact, is the reduction of dependence on hydrocarbons and the development of a new consumption model.
As reported by the newspaper “al-Arab” last February 16, the economy of Algeria has been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and by the drop in oil prices, one of the major sources of income in the North African country. Therefore, the Algerian Minister of Energy, Abdelmadjid Attar, said that the law that regulates the production, transmission and distribution of electricity must be revised by making changes or developing new regulations that take greater account of renewable energy.
The positive effects of Algeria’s energy strategy could also spill over to Italian companies, in particular those in the transport sector, since Algiers’ priority is the conversion of petrol engines into LPG with the installation of at least 200,000 kits by the end of this year. Another priority, as reported by the podcast “Farnesina per le imprese”, is to improve the energy efficiency of buildings: modernize the consumption of over 4 million apartments built in recent years. In Algeria, Italian companies could also have interesting opportunities in the sector of gas cookers with electric plates.
In the wake of ENI, which in 2018 inaugurated a pilot project for the development of photovoltaics, other Italian companies, active in the renewable sector, could also find new opportunities in Algeria, such as in the field of geothermal and hydrogen energy and in training related to renewables, also opening opportunities for collaboration between Italian and Algerian universities and research centers.
Algeria has one of the largest solar energy fields in the world, with a duration of insolation from 2,000 to 3,900 hours per year and a daily irradiation of 3,000 to 6,000 Wh / m2, the equivalent of ten times global consumption. This makes the country one of the most favorable in the African and Mediterranean area in the field of renewable energy and, therefore, one of the most attractive States for Italian investments.
