Brussels, 12/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Algeria has stated its intention for strengthened cooperation with the EU in gas and solar energy. In support of the visit of the Portuguese prime minister to Algiers on 10 March, Algeria's Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal proposed the relaunch to the EU of several gas and solar energy projects (the Galsi gas pipeline project via Sardinia and the Desertec solar project). Sellal's announcement coincides with the resolve of the Euro-Mediterranean countries to set up a “structured dialogue” on energy cooperation. A meeting of experts took place in Brussels on 5 March in order to make preparations for a “platform on gas” by the end of May. At the start of the year, the association of Mediterranean energy regulators (MEDREG) gave an update on the existing interconnections and those to be strengthened. France and Spain committed to completing the process by building the electricity interconnections needed between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe.
Particularly noteworthy is the relaunch of the Galsi project, which dates back to 2003 but which has been on hold for over two years (see EUROPE 11246). Galsi is designed to be an extension of the African “mega-project” (the TGSP) between Nigeria and Algeria and, when finished, would target the European market. It involves Italian partners (Edison, Enel Group Hera and the Region of Sardinia) and the Algerian company Sonatrach, and should link Algeria to Tuscany via Sardinia over a distance of nearly 900 km (including 600 km in the sea). According to its designers, it would be the deepest project ever accomplished (2,885 metres) and would be “a great technological and engineering challenge”. However, cost overshoots (from €2.3 billion initially to $4 billion today, according to Algerian specialist media) have meant that the project has been put on hold. High level meetings between Italy and Algeria in February nevertheless resulted in a request from the Italian foreign affairs minister, Paolo Gentiloni, to relaunch the project. “We are interested in the Galsi project and we support the idea of diversifying sources”, he said in Algiers.
The request for a relaunch comes against the backdrop of dependence on Russian gas, as the Portuguese prime minister stated in Algiers. “Political instability and regional conflicts between Russia and Ukraine” have sometimes “led to interruptions in supply and have threatened the EU's energy security”, it is said in Brussels. The message, which was openly addressed to the Euro-Mediterranean partners in Brussels on 5 March, also highlights a “structural weakness” for which the solution depends on a seemingly evident reality. “In all scenarios, the share of gas in the EU's energy mix will continue to be important, while the dependence on foreign supplies is increasing”. And in Brussels it is said, when speaking about the EU's recent energy strategy, that the reality is also that the Mediterranean has a “strategic” role in this regard. North Africa is currently the EU's third biggest gas supplier. In 2013, 13% of European purchases came from Algeria, 2% from Libya and 1% from Egypt. There is strong export potential even if, according to estimates, the energy demand in the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean “will increase by over 40%” and “the demand for gas is expected to grow by 30% by 2030”. There are significant off-shore projects in the Eastern Mediterranean (off the coast of Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon) and these would make the whole Mediterranean a “net exporter”, according to specialist EU sources.
This is where the idea for a Euro-Mediterranean “platform on gas” originates and the idea for the implementation of a “Mediterranean gas hub” which would guarantee exchanges between both shores of the Mediterranean and make them more effective. These exchanges are already carried out through the existing infrastructure for the transport of natural gas in different forms (gas pipelines and LNG liquefaction). Algeria has three gas pipelines - two (MEG and Medgaz) via Spain and Morocco, and one (Transmed) via Italy and Tunisia. With the Greenstream gas pipeline linking Libya directly to Sicily, a transport capacity of 68 billion cubic metres already exists.
Relaunch of solar project. Sellal also recommended the relaunch of a project to produce electricity from solar energy. It is “possible to produce solar energy in Algeria and to market it in Europe”, he said. The Desertec project originally backed by Germany came up against reluctance and a loss of faith from those designing it. The industrial consortium that was due to develop it (Dii) separated from Desertec and, within the consortium, Siemens - which was one of the original stakeholders - withdrew. According to Algerian media, Desertec could be reconsidered in connection with other partners. (Fathi B'Chir)