Algeria progressing on project to export electricity to Europe

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen Net
12 Apr 2023 13:26
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Algeria's Energy and Mining Minister reveals that Algiers will be supplying Europe with electricity and gas after establishing power cables and a gas pipeline that connect the two continents.

Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab is present at a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, 5 October 2022. (Reuters)

Algeria will export electricity to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mining Mohamed Arkab announced on Tuesday.

The Minister, who was leading the opening ceremony of a mobile power station set to generate 20 megawatts in the agricultural sector of Brézina, revealed that Algeria has become one of the region's leaders in electricity production at an estimated capacity of 25,000 megawatts.

Arkab explained that the ministry, alongside its European and Algerian partners, is completing preliminary studies to prepare to supply Europe with Algerian electricity.

The power will be produced by natural gas power plants and future solar projects that will play a crucial role in exporting renewable energy to Europe.

The Algerian official also revealed that the gas pipeline project, which starts from Nigeria and goes through Niger and Algeria to finally reach Europe, is in the final research stages.

Algeria to have strong presence in EU energy sector

The Minister added that only 1,800 km await completion out of a total of 4,000 km that are distributed around the 3 African countries.

Moreover, the project will be a “great building block for cooperation” in the energy sector between African countries.

In December, Algeria renewed its intentions to have a strong presence in the European energy sector through a transcontinental cable that cuts through the Mediterranean Sea.

This came after The Minister of Energy and Mining hosted a meeting with the former Italian Prime Minister and current President of Ernst and Young, Massimo D'Alema, and the President of the Algerian Economic Renewal Council Kamel Moula.

The European energy sector is facing an unprecedented crisis as prices of gas and electricity skyrocket in the continent. This is the effect of the comprehensive Western sanctions on Russia that have mainly targeted Russian energy sources which constituted nearly 40% of the gas supply to Europe.