Page 11 - AfrElec Week 37 2021

AfrElec INVESTMENT AfrElec

US to support green laggard Algeria

ALGERIA THE US has agreed to support Algeria’s modern- As part of its grant, USTDA is inviting US
isation of its national grid and the transition to a companies to express interest in facilitating
greener power sector. GRTE’s technical assistance.
The US Trade and Development Agency According to the US agency, this project
(USTDA) said it would provide a grant of advances the goals of USTDA’s Global Partner-
$588,100 to the Algerian Electricity Transmis- ship for Climate Smart Infrastructure, which
sion System Management Company (GRTE), links US industry to major clean energy and
a subsidiary of Sonelgaz, the Algerian national transportation infrastructure projects in emerg-
electricity and gas company, to fund technical ing markets, such as Algeria.
studies into power improvements. “We are proud to support this opportunity
USTDA support will help GRTE plan the to not only bolster the bilateral relationship
development of an automated distributed con- between our two countries, but also to join in
trol system that will allow it to integrate energy the efforts to secure reliable, clean and renewable
from solar and wind sources into its grid. energy for the people of Algeria,” said Gautam
This system will increase the efficiency of Rana, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in
GRTE’s grid while strengthening the manage- Algiers, during a virtual signing ceremony.
ment of distributed generation resources. Algeria has fallen far behind its sub-regional
“Our partnership with the USTDA will pave neighbours, notably Egypt and Morocco, in
the way for us to modernise and digitise our renewable energy production.
power grid using the expertise of leading US Algeria had an installed capacity of 21,000
companies. Our transmission system will play MW in 2019, almost 98% of which is derived
an important role in Algeria’s transition to green from natural gas.
energy. USTDA’s technical assistance will help us Algiers now wants to diversify its electricity
make sure we have the right plan, and it will be an mix, through an initial project to build 1,000
opportunity for our young engineers to gain val- MW of solar capacity, which is now subject to a
uable experience in project planning,” says Nabil call for tenders.™
Yousfi, GRTE’s president and CEO.

Egypt to delay to postpone Kom Ombo

THE Egyptian Electricity Transmission (EETC) In April, the European Bank for Recon-
has accepted ACWA Power’s request to postpone struction and Development (EBRD), the OPEC
the 200-MW solar plant project at Kom Ombo in Fund for International Development (the OPEC
southern Egypt because of the high cost of trans- Fund), the African Development Bank (AfDB),
port and the prices of solar cells. the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank
Egyptian media reported that ACWA Power agreed a $114mn financing package with ACWA
executives told EETC that the high prices of solar Power for the plant.
cells and charging equipment at the moment The contract for the construction and devel-
could cause significant financial burden for the opment of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants is part
company. of the government’s plan to produce 20% of the
ACWA Power has agreed a price of $0.0248 total energy produced on the electricity grid
per kWh for the project’s output, which is the from renewable sources by 2022.
lowest price contracted by EETC. The new Kom Ombo plant will be located less
The Egyptian media said that EETC has to than 20 km from Africa’s biggest solar park, the
agree to postpone the project for a period of nine 1.8-GW Benban complex. Once operational, the
months until freight and cell prices stabilise. new utility-scale plant will serve 130,000 house-
EETC is waiting for solar energy to recover holds. It will and reduce carbon emissions by
from the repercussions of the coronavirus approximately 280,000 tonnes per year (tpy).
(COVID-19) epidemic. ACWA Power has completed the operation of
Sterling & Wilson, the general contractor on three solar power plants under the solar energy
the project, left the project site until officially tariff program in Benban, Aswan Governorate,
informed by Saudi company ACWA Power of and is competing for a series of tenders to estab-
the new date, according to Egypt’s Economy lish solar power plants.
Plus. The Kom Ombo plant will contribute to the
ACWA Power had already managed to com- Egyptian government’s target to generate 42% of
plete the financial close of the project, and the the country’s electricity from renewable energy
project is co-funded by international entities, sources by 2035 while delivering one of the low-
with a total cost of $200mn. est generation tariffs on the continent.™

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