Under the deal, the solar facility, while is located about 30 kilometres east of the capital of Algiers, will produce 116 MW of power annually.
The agreement with state utility Société Nationale de l’Electricité et du Gaz (Sonelgaz) will see a factory built that covers the entire solar value chain, from ingot production and solar cell manufacturing.
“It gives us pleasure to be able to support Sonelgaz in this groundbreaking photovoltaic project,” said Robert M. Hartung, CEO and Management Board Chairman of centrotherm photovoltaics AG. “Our expertise as a photovoltaic technology leader, the lowest production costs per watt-peak, and our many years of experience in turnkey projects proved persuasive to our Algerian customers".
"Solar energy possesses great market potential particularly in very sunny countries such as Algeria, or in the Arabian region, because it is unrivalled in terms of cost compared with other energy sources,” Hartung added.
As part of the turnkey project, centrotherm will deliver all of the photovoltaic systems on a turnkey basis, ranging from multi-crystalline ingot furnaces and ingot manufacturing through to module production.
Kinetics, meanwhile, will be responsible for engineering services, construction management and the turnkey production of the building.
With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, Algeria has a natural receptive climate to solar power. The nation is reportedly looking to derive six to eight per cent of its electricity from renewable power technologies by 2020.
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