North Africa renewable Energies

North African renewable energy and nuclear projects
Morocco:
Gigawatts of ambition

Algeria:
Industrial investment

Tunisia:
Growing solar plans

Libya:
Petrol-head with ambition

Egypt:
Coastal winds

Driven by senior leadership, the
kingdom has adopted ever more
ambitious plans to exploit its
estimated 25GW wind power
potential and high levels of
solarity; these plans now hinge
on projects to generate 2GW from
new wind farms and 2GW from
new thermo-solar plants by 2020.
A key project is the 500MW
Ouarzazate solar park, whose
125MW CSP first phase is expected
to start construction in 2012. A
range of private financing models
and multilateral backing are
being explored.

The Hassi R’Mel hybrid gas/solar
power station has been a rare
flagship scheme, and to date most
Saharan solar schemes have been
small scale, to generate electricity
for domestic consumers and the
oil industry. But policy shifts in
2011/12 will give new
encouragement to develop bigger
projects, accompanied by
industrial investment. A first wind
farm is being built in the south.

With only one 62MW HEP plant
and 55MW wind farm at Sidi
Daoud, Tunisia has little
renewable generation capacity.
But this will change, despite
delays following the 2011
‘revolution’, with nearly 200MW
of wind capacity coming on
stream at Bizerte. The Tunisian
Solar Plan envisages backing 40
projects and giving consumers
30% subsidies for solar panels;
bigger still is the eventual 2GW
export-oriented TuNur CSP
scheme.

Hydrocarbons dominate Libyan
thinking, although before the
revolution state agency Reaol
proposed generating 1GW from
wind by 2020. It had only modest
plans for solar energy, including
a PV plant grid of 6-10MW
capacity and small-scale units for
remote areas, but with 3,0003,500 hours/yr of sun Libya could
do more, and some members of
the transitional government are
thinking on a larger scale.

Renewables contribute over 10%
towards national power
generation and are targeted for
20% by 2020. HEP is a significant
contributor but much of the
expansion will be from wind
energy; already Egypt is North
Africa’s leading producer in this
sector, exploiting high winds in
parts of the Gulf of El Zeit and
Sinai. Following construction of
the Kureimat ISCC solar hybrid, a
large-scale CSP project is planned
at Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt.
The New & Renewable Energy
Authority has strong international
technical and financial support.

MÉTLINE;

A. TORRES;
AL-BAIDA;
HAOUMA
Tangier

TANGIER;
SENDOUK (KHALLADI) W W

H H

WW

Mostaganem

Oran

Tétouan

MOROCCO HAS A
TAZA
LARGE NUMBER OF
Kénitra
W Oujda
HYDRO SCHEMES IN
RABAT
OPERATION.
Meknès Fès
X
Casablanca
MORE ARE
PLANNED, BUT
SMALLER DAMS. Safi
H

MOROCCO

Essaouira

H

N

Ouzou
Constantine
Sétif
Batna

AÏN BENI
MATHAR
Naâma

X

Biskra

Djelfa

X

Meghaïr

Béchar

Agadir

I

Gafsa

T

E

R

R

Sfax

Pilot project

A N
E A
N

S E A

Jerba

Tajura research
reactor to be
TRIPOLI upgraded

El
Borma

ALGERIA

AKHFENNIR;
TARFAYA
Tan-Tan
W
SEBKHA
Tarfaya S TAH

D

W
Sousse

Hassi R’Mel
Hassi
Messaoud

SIDI
DAOUD

H TUNIS

Gabès

X

E

TUNI SIA

Pilot biogas plant

AMOUGDOUL W
Marrakech
ABDELMOUMEN H
S OUARZAZATE

S

N

Al

W

Misratah
W -K h u m
s
TARHUNA
Sirte

Al-Bayda

W
Darnah

Benghazi
W AL-MUQRUN

Tobruk

Marsa al-Brega

Ghadames

N

Tanta

EL DABA

Giza

Suez

Si na i

X
W
ZAFARANA

KABERTENE W

ZEIT BAY W

L I B YA

Adrar

Asyut

In Salah
Sabha

Reggane

W S FOUM EL OUAD

NAG HAMMADI

ISNA

W S BOUJDOUR
Al-Kufra

Qena

H

EGYPT

Murzuq

W TISKRAD

Hurghada

ile

(under UN
mandate)

CAIRO

KUREIMAT
Beni Suef

Timimoun
Tindouf

Port
Said

Alexandria
Marsa
Matruh

N

Western Sahara

Ech Chélif

Sidi Bel Abbès

AHMED EL HANSALI
Figuig
AFOURER

M

KCHABTA
W
ALGIERS SÉTIF-JIJEL
AREA Annaba Bizerte
Blida
TiziSIDI SALEM
H

ASWAN
DAM 1 & 2

S

RED
SEA

Luxor

H

S Kom Ombo
ASWAN
H H HIGH
DAM

Sc
he
m
e
Pl
a n s in
co n
ns ed ope
tr o
uc r u rati
on
tio n
n de
r

Lake
Nasser

H

W Wind power

Hydroelectric power

S

S

Solar power

X

X

Solar/thermal hybrid
Waste-to-power / biofuels

International initiatives line up

Nuclear: Long-term plans

Europe is driving interconnection and generation for export schemes
on its southern flank, in moves to secure its energy supply and support
renewables worldwide. European-based solar mega-schemes include
the German-led Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) and French-led
Mediterranean Solar Plan, whose Medgrid (formerly Transgreen)
element is intended to link the Mediterranean’s northern and southern
shores and develop interconnections around the Mediterranean
Basin. The EU is promoting ever more new initiatives; its Renewable
Energy Co-operation Programme, launched in September 2010, means
to support interconnections within Africa, and between Africa and
Europe, as does the Africa-EU Energy Partnership.

The ‘Arab Spring’ revolts have put projects on hold, but before a
generation of rulers was overthrown each North African
government was showing interest in developing civil nuclear power
(encouraged by talks with French and Russian companies and their
political leaders). Egypt, Tunisia and others are expected to revive
plans once their new governments bed in. Morocco plans two
1,000MW reactors to start operation after 2020 and the Algerian
government wants to add to its small research reactors with a
larger nuclear plant that would generate electricity, replacing gas
that Sonatrach could export. All countries have been working with
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

N Nuclear power

AFRICAN
ENERGY
OIL • GAS • POWER • POLITICS & FINANCE

© African Energy 2012
(www.africa-energy.com)

H
W

Tamanrasset

www.africa-energy.com