Algerian ENIE to open 25 MW solar panel factory

Algerian state-owned electronic components producer Entreprise nationale des industries electroniques (ENIE) will open a 25 MW production site for photovoltaic (PV) cells and panels in several weeks time, the company's CEO Djamel Bekkara told local media last week.

Controlled by the industry ministry, ENIE has invested DZD 2 billion (USD 20.1m /EUR 18m) to equip the factory with an automated line supplied by US firm Spire Semiconductor.

The plant, located at ENIE's site at Sidi Bel Abbes, western Algeria, will initially have an output of 25 MW per year and in a second phase expansion it will add solar wafers to its production.

All products will be sold on the local market for both industrial and home applications at "a very competitive price", Bekkara noted.

Algeria has launched a national programme for the development of renewable energy which targets an installed capacity of 22 000 MW or 27% of clean power plants in the energy mix by 2030. By 2020, at least 4500 MW of renewable power stations should start operation.

According to national news agency APS, the step-like Hauts Plateaux region in the northern part of the country and the South will welcome twenty-three solar power plants with a combined capacity of 343 MW by the end of 2015.

(DZD 100 = USD1.008/EUR 0.918)

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