• Algeria launches $1.38 billion gas power plant project

• 1,406 MW facility to boost supply, may export to Tunisia

• Built by CNEEC, aims to improve efficiency, meet rising demand

Algeria’s Minister of Energy and Renewable Energy, Mourad Adjal, on Monday launched work on a combined-cycle gas power plant worth 184.09 billion dinars ($1.38 billion).

The government awarded the contract to China National Electric Engineering Co. (CNEEC), in partnership with local firm Sonelgaz Power Generation, a subsidiary of state-owned Sonelgaz.

The plant is expected to come online in 48 months and will be built on a 40-hectare site in eastern Algeria, near the Tunisian border. With a capacity of 1,406 megawatts (MW), it will be the country’s second-largest power station after the 1,600 MW Jijel plant in the northeast.

“This project is vital for the national power system. It will help meet rising demand, secure the grid and support broader economic development,” Adjal told local media.

The facility will use advanced technology to improve efficiency and strengthen power supply in the region. Combined-cycle plants generate electricity using both gas and steam turbines, reusing waste heat from the first process to power the second. This increases efficiency and cuts fuel use by about 30% compared with conventional gas plants, which rely on a single turbine.

The plant is expected to supply several regions and could export part of its output to Tunisia.

Algeria’s power generation capacity is dominated by gas-fired plants, with total installed capacity of around 27,000 MW. The country has also launched a programme to add 3,200 MW of renewable energy to diversify its power mix.

Walid Kéfi