APS – April 12th, 2017.

BRUSSELS (Belgium) – Algeria is willing to optimize its energy resources for the domestic market and multiply the investments in energy diversification and industrialization, Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa said on April 11th 2017 in Brussels, quoted by a diplomatic source.
During a one-to-one meeting with EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete following the Algerian –EU annual high level meeting on energy, Boutarfa outlined the government’s efforts to relaunch the Algerian petrochemical industry, through the local processing of oil and natural gas, so to meet the national and African needs in the petrochemical products.
National oil company Sonatrach has approved a development plan aiming at relaunching the petrochemical industry in Algeria.
The plan has three goals: optimizing the hydrocarbon resources to meet the national needs in petrochemical products, increasing exports and contributing to larger integration of the national industry. It covers the sectors of plastic, rubber, textiles, fertilizers and chemicals.
Algeria is also seeking win-win partnerships in the field of renewable energies-notably the photovoltaic solar energy, with a view to creating wealth and improving the skills of the human resources, the minister added.
The EU Commissioner, as for him, said that Algeria and the EU have to move towards an industrial partnership in the fields of energy.
In addition, Energy Minister and the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy have agreed to organize soon a meeting on solar and wind energy in order to prepare the launch of the call for tenders for the construction of 4050 MW solar photovoltaic power plant.