Brussels, 06/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - Tewfik Hasni, an Algerian energy expert and former founding CEO of NEAL (renewable energies specialist body), interviewed by Quotidien d'Oran (5/12/2011) said that “the current crisis will certainly create uncertainties on the energy market in general”. He also stated that the future is in electricity because the production poles in the southern Mediterranean and current “roadmaps” increasingly appear to be counting on nuclear power to guarantee supply in Europe. “If Italy is affected, this will seriously affect Algeria's gas exports. This will obviously affect the electricity market overall. The impact will be twofold on green electricity: in addition to demand, which will fall, the management of aid for this electricity will not be equipped with the appropriate financial resources”.
Hasni, whose country is a major player in the energy sector, was invited to comment on the recent agreements between Medgrid and Desertec. These two companies are behind the projects covering the euro-Mediterranean area, for which a cooperation agreement was signed in mid-November in Brussels. Hasni explained that the way ahead would still be difficult but that these “two major actors in solar energy have outlined a roadmap, whilst waiting to make their way… the two initiatives aim to provide security of energy supply for European countries”. He also explained that “the variety of different actors and challenges explain the chaotic trajectory of each of the different individual initiatives”. But Hasni said that “the Fukushima effect and the moratorium on nuclear power in Germany have made the thermal solar alternative indispensable to meeting Europe's needs”. On the other hand, in his opinion, “the complexity of relations between European countries for the electricity market has made relations tense, as illustrated, for example, by the competition between solar electricity and nuclear power”. He said that in relation to both forms of energy, “the energy networks of tomorrow will be primarily electric” but “the transport infrastructure is expensive with poor dividends”. He added that he was convinced “that an under-sea network of electric cable in direct current (trans-Mediterranean) would become necessary …It should run along the Atlantic coast for ease of passage and it will be less expensive than the equivalent transport in gas”.
However, he appealed for them to look reality in the face, “the photovoltaic (PV) sector is not performing adequately. On the contrary, with the end of European state aid, the sector is in crisis, with many European companies in the sector bankrupt. These are the consequences of the European economic crisis… Chinese dynamism in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells has finished off European industry. It appears that PV is being penalised due to its cost and irregularity. The electricity market cannot accept that and irregular energy sources such as wind power and PV will only be able to cover 20% overall” of requirements. (FB/transl.fl)