Better late than never as Algeria has finally decided to back the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) as announced by the North African country’s Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi.
A year ago the Algerian government said it would support local projects before meeting international demands, including the DII. Although Algeria’s largest private company Cevital was the first African company to join the mostly German-led consortium. The Algerian government said that it does not want foreigners utilizing Algerian soil to exploit solar energy and is only interested if local firms play a central role.
The $400 billion Sahara solar project would help Algeria realize its renewable energy targets with the government recently detailing its new renewable energy development plan. The country’s medium-term plan includes generating 6% of its total energy mix from renewable energy sources by 2015. And in mid-February, the country announced that it would invest about $60 billion by 2030 with aims to expand its renewable energy sector by focusing on its domestic solar market, according to Sonelgaz CEO Noureddine Boutarfa.
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