Renewable energy: Nearly 590 MW of installed capacity by late 2022

“At the end of December 2022, the total installed capacity of renewable energy (RE) stood at 589.7 MW (megawatts), including 460.8 MW excluding hydroelectricity, comprising 422.6 MW connected to the grid and 38.2 MW off-grid”, stated the Commission in its 3rd report on renewable energy achievements in Algeria for the period 2020-2021-2022.

According to this document, which focuses on achievements in renewable energy, in terms of sector deployment and development of industry, an increase of 5.2% in installed capacity was recorded, with an additional installed capacity of +23.9 MW compared with that accumulated by the end of 2021.

However, over 2020-2022, the installed capacity neared 51.6 MW, i.e. a 12.2% growth compared with the cumulative figure at the end of December 2019.

CEREFE highlighted the use of off-grid renewable energy by several sectors, notably for the electrification of isolated sites, public lighting, solarization of schools, transmission systems and networks, and water pumping, notably for grazing wells for livestock watering and irrigation.

“All sectors have integrated renewable energy into their development plans to varying degrees,” as part of the execution of the Government’s Action Plan for the implementation of the Program of the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in its section on the deployment of renewable energy within state institutions and facilities.

51% of off-grid capacity installed in remote areas

The Commission, created in late 2019 under the Prime Minister’s authority, has noted a “significant” increase in off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) installations over the past three years. Solar kits, with a total capacity of 19.3 MW, now account for almost half (51%) of off-grid PV solar installations.

By the end of 2022, 5,226 solar PV kits had been installed in isolated areas, including 2,883 kits between 2020 and 2022, and 1,102 kits in 2022.

955 schools have been equipped with solar photovoltaic systems, representing a total capacity of 3.9 MW by the end of 2022, including more than half (572 schools) between 2020 and 2022 and 115 schools in 2022.

As for solar street lighting, the same source reports nearly 132432 photovoltaic solar streetlights deployed by the end of December 2022, including 91256 solar streetlights between 2020 and 2022 and 24791 solar streetlights installed in 2022, stressing that solar street lighting installations total 12.3 MW by the end of December 2022, i.e. 32% of off-grid solar installations.

Regarding the human resources required for the development of renewable energy, CREREF points out that a “considerable effort has been made by the sectors concerned to achieve the critical mass in terms of qualified human resources needed to implement the various development programs in this field”, stressing that there were 101 training centres in renewable energy and energy efficiency at the end of 2022, compared with just 59 in late December 2021.

During the 2021-2022 period, the vocational training and education sector trained 821 graduates in the various specialities in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency, i.e. “a significant increase” in the number of graduates recorded during the 2020-2021 period (308 diplomas) while 1,781 new trainees are planned for the 2022-2023 period.