BY: Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS- On the eve of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Algiers, Professor Noureddine Yassaa, Commissioner for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CEREFE), highlighted in an interview with APS the comparative advantages offered by natural gas, a true “ally in energy transition,” suggesting it could attract significant international industrial investments to Algeria.
“There are currently some industries relocating due to the energy crisis. Algeria could be a center for the establishment of these industries. The coexistence of natural gas and solar energy, abundant in Algeria, along with its geostrategic position, makes Algeria an attractive destination to become a major industrial hub in the region,” emphasized Noureddine Yassaa.
He further elaborated on the potential projects in “strategic industrial sectors for the economic development of our country,” stressing that “the new approach aimed to capitalize on national energy resources, whether fossil or renewable, locally, creating added value, wealth, and employment as part of an economic diversification policy.” In other words, this approach “promotes the export of derived or manufactured products instead of exporting raw natural gas, encouraging our foreign industrial partners to establish themselves in our country, benefiting from access to abundant, affordable, clean, and sustainable energy as well as incentives provided under the new investment code.”
Underlining the central role of natural gas as an “indispensable ally” of renewable energies, especially in Algeria, which focuses on economic diversification, Mr. Yassaa affirmed that these future investment projects could materialize in various high-value-added sectors, including mechanical industry, giga-factories in the solar industry, battery manufacturing, advanced industry, and semiconductors. Data centers, clouds, and other energy-intensive industries can benefit from the abundance of clean and sustainable energy in Algeria.
Mr. Yassaa also noted Algeria’s interest in massively deploying renewable energies, given its potential, with the strategic objective of diversifying national energy resources and ensuring long-term energy security, preserving natural gas as a lever for value creation. “Natural gas has its place in the global energy system: all credible projections show that the natural gas-solar energy combination has a responsive place in the future global energy system.
While awaiting the development of large-scale storage technologies, including storage batteries and green hydrogen, natural gas will enable intermittent renewable energies, such as solar and wind, to develop while ensuring the stability and reliability of energy services,” highlighted the CEREFE director.
Regarding the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit (GECF) in Algiers (February 28 – March 2), he noted that the event is an opportunity to affirm that “natural gas has its place in the global energy system, especially as it helps achieve the triple objective: energy security, economic growth, and environmental protection.” Natural gas, combined with renewable energies, will help fight energy poverty, especially in Africa, where over 600 million people still lack access to modern energy, he argued. Mr. Yassaa added that the summit and its related meetings align with international concerns related to energy security, sovereignty, and universal access to energy, in line with sustainable development goals and poverty eradication.
Regarding the Gas Research Institute (GRI), which is part of the GECF and whose headquarters will be inaugurated in Algiers on the sidelines of the summit, he expressed the hope that this international research body would also intervene in the development of decarbonization technologies to make natural gas usage even cleaner by deploying carbon capture, storage, and utilization technologies. He further suggested that the GRI should develop processes and techniques to eliminate fugitive methane emissions, which will have both economic and climate impacts.
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