Germany and Algeria have announced plans for a closer bilateral relationship focused on the North African country’s energy sector including fossil fuels and renewable energy. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika visited the European country saying, “We also expect German contributions towards building an economy in Algeria which is less and less dependent on fossil fuels.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “We are interested in helping with the exploitation of oil and gas reserves, but also to cooperate more closely with Algeria on solar and renewable energy.”
Germany is particularly interested in Algeria since the German-led consortium, Desertec, needs the country to further collaborate on its efforts to generate energy from the Sahara to transport to Europe.
While Algeria is one of Africa’s top oil producers with many foreign companies already present, the country has already announced that it would favor local projects over the Desertec Initiative. The Algerian government has said that it does not want foreigners exploiting its solar energy and is only interested if local firms play a central role, and currently Algerian company Cevital remains one of the few North African companies onboard the ambitious project. The company said that although the government is tightening rules on foreign investment, its proposal will help Algerian firms while promoting exports outside the oil and gas sector.
In mid-August Bouteflika introduced a plan to ramp up energy efforts with the country’s hydrocarbon sector remaining a top priority. The country plans to generate 6% of its total energy mix from renewable energy sources by 2015, but very few plans are in the works. However, at the end of September, Algeria announced a massive investment plan worth $150 billion with $1 billion going toward the erection of a solar/wind hybrid power plant and $30 billion for its power industry expansion.
Bouteflika’s visit was met with Merkel’s insistence for cooperation on Desertec saying, “I gave my assurance that we have a great interest in implementing Desertec, which is still a vision today.” And while Algeria might be behind its North African neighbors like Morocco and Egypt in regards to renewable energy, it appears as though he is looking at a long-term investment. He continues to support local involvement in the project and said that he hoped the cooperation would include the exchange of skills and a technology transfer. Not surprisingly, Germany has agreed.
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