Algeria launches tender for 2000MWp solar projects

State-owned utility in charge of electricity and natural gas distribution in Algeria, Sonelgaz has launched a call for tenders for the development and construction of 15 photovoltaic solar power plants in several regions of the country.

The overall energy production targeted with the projects is 2000MWp. The solar power plants with a capacity of between 80 and 220 MWp will be installed in 11 wilayas. In the region of Béchar, 200 MWp will be developed in two municipalities, 220 MWp in the wilaya of M’Sila, 280 MWp in El Oued and 430 MWp in Biskra.

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Diversifying energy sources

This initiative comes only a few months after the launch of a first call for tenders in the framework of the “Solar 1 000 MW” project. The selected IPPs will have to build solar photovoltaic plants with a capacity of between 30 and 300 MWp. These IPPs will inject their production into Algeria’s national electricity grid under 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The launch of these tenders for the development of an installed solar capacity of 3,000 MWp in the space of one year confirms the Algerian government’s policy of diversifying electricity production sources. By 2021, Sonelgaz had an installed capacity of 22 000 MW. According to the Commissariat aux énergies renouvelables et à l’efficacité énergétique (CEREFE), in 2021, the production capacity of renewable energies was 567.1 MW, including 438.2 MW excluding hydroelectricity. Companies interested in the Sonelgaz tender have until 29 May 2023 to apply