The government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria intends to launch the Tafouk 1 mega solar power project in the near future, which will unfold 4 gigawatts of new solar power capacity in the North African country over a period of five years.
The plan was presented by the Algerian Minister of Energy Mohamed Arkab. It explains that the Tafouk 1 mega solar power project will see several photovoltaic solar power plants constructed across a dozen Wilayas in the country on a total area of approximately 6400 hectares.
The Energy Ministry foresees an investment of between US$3.2 and 3.6 billion to deploy the 4GW, which will increase the country’s solar power capacity 10 times over.
Also Read: Algeria to join German Desertec project
Plans for the project
Like any other solar energy infrastructure project, the Tafouk1 solar project will bring about health-infusing, well paying, and decent job opportunities out there that clean up the air for the citizens and improve the host location’s quality of life. Particularly, this project will employ 56,000 people during the construction phase and 2,000 people during the operation phase, in addition to meeting the country’s national energy demand and preserving its oil and gas resources.
Furthermore, the government has bigger plans with the project. Algeria’s Minister of Energy says that this project will enable the country to position itself on the international market by exporting electricity at a competitive price, as well as exporting the know-how it has acquired.
The country’s green energy target by 2030
Towards the end of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reign, the North African country set a target to produce 22 GW of green energy by 2030, with 13.6 GW reserved for photovoltaic solar energy.
However nothing much has been done in regards, only 343 MW of solar power capacity is installed to date, and the country still depends on fossil fuel. Oil and gas are used to generate 98% of the total electricity production in the country and it accounts for 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 85 percent of total exports.
