Page 6 - AfrElec Week 38

AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

Algerian cabinet member says he

doesn’t support shale gas plans

AUSTRALIA CHEMS-EDDINE Chitour, Algeria’s Minister gas potential. The US Energy Administration
of Energy Transition and Renewable Energies, Information Agency (EIA) has put the country’s
said last week that he did not support the gov- recoverable shale gas reserves at 20 tcm, and
ernment’s plans to push forward with the explo- the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects
ration and development of shale gas reserves. unconventional fields to account for about a
In an interview with Le Soir d’Algérie, Chi- third of Algeria’s gas output by 2040.
tour argued that unconventional gas projects Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the president of
posed too many environmental and ecological Algeria, has made his support of proposals for
risks. Algeria’s shale gas fields are in a part of the exploring and developing these reserves clear.
country that has already been negatively affected He has pointed out that shale fields could help
by the French government’s nuclear weapons the country increase gas exports and earn more
tests, and upstream exploration and develop- revenue from the hydrocarbon sector.
ment work might cause additional problems, he The North African state is already heav-
said. ily dependent on oil and gas. The industry
Specifically, he expressed concern about the accounted for no less than 96% of its exports,
possibility of damage to the local water table. as well as 43% of tax revenues and 21% of GDP,
Algeria’s Saharan regions contain around 45 tril- between 2004 and 2018.
lion cubic metres of water in subsurface reserves, As a result, Algiers is keen to reverse the long-
and all local plants and animals are heavily term decline in gas exports. According to official
dependent on these reserves, he said. data, annual gas export volumes are set to reach
He also expressed scepticism about the opti- 45bn cubic metres in 2020, down from 64 bcm
mistic reserve estimates that have led Algeria to in 2005, and will then decline further to 26 bcm
work with outside firms such as the US oilfield by 2025.™
services giant Halliburton to evaluate its shale
COAL

GE exits new build coal power market

GLOBAL US-BASED GE has said it is to stop building As a major supplier of coal-fired generating
coal-fired power plants and will concentrate equipment, GE has felt the pressure of global
instead on renewables and gas-fired generation. environmental activism, and is also subject to
GE said that its Steam Power business would investor’ decisions to reduce their exposure to
now reduce its exposure to coal through divest- companies such as GE that pose climate risk.
ing from coal projects, site closures and job cuts. For example, GE, which until recently was
The company said it would still continue to one of the world’s major builders of coal-fired
deliver turbine islands for the nuclear market power plants, is among the 161 “focus compa-
and service existing nuclear and coal power nies” that Climate Action 100+, which represents
plants. However, the decision is restricted to its global investment companies, names as being as
Steam Power business, and does not touch gas- systemically important to the global transition to
fired generation, meaning the company will still net-zero emissions.
be exposed to fossil fuel generation. GE joins other major energy names such as
It said the move is part of its strategy of mak- BP and Royal Dutch Shell that are limiting their
ing electricity more affordable, reliable, accessi- exposure to fossil fuels in a bid to respond to
ble and sustainable. market sentiment and to meet investors’ expec-
Russell Stokes, GE senior vice-president and tations. In its renewables business, GE is pushing
president & CEO of GE Power Portfolio, said: ahead with its generation technology, announc-
“with the continued transformation of GE, we ing this week that it is to install its 13-MW Hali-
are focused on power generation businesses that ade-X offshore turbines at the UK’s 3.6-GW
have attractive economics and a growth trajec- Dogger Bank project in the UK.
tory. As we pursue this exit from the new-build GE’s Renewable Energy unit won the supply
coal power market, we will continue to support contract in October 2019 for the project, but
our customers, helping them to keep their exist- back then said it would supply 12-MW Halia-
ing plants running in a cost-effective and effi- de-X turbines. It has now upgraded the contract
cient way.” to 190 enhanced 13-MW units.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 24•September•2020