The Egyptian National Renewable Energy Agency signed a contract in early October 2007 for the Spanish company 1BERDROLA Ingenieria to build a 150MW solar thermal energy utilization facility in Kuraymat. The project has a total investment of approximately 150 million Euros, and is supported by the World Bank’s Global Environmental Facilities Organization. IBERDROLA Ing-enierla is responsible for design engineering, equipment procurement, construction and assembly. The facility is an integrated solar combined cycle system (ISCCS) configuration that can maximize energy efficiency by combining solar energy and natural gas. The operation of the facility is similar to a conventional combined cycle device, which burns natural gas to generate 110MW of electricity, and uses solar thermal energy to increase its power generation capacity to 150MW at noon. This will increase the energy efficiency of the facility to 67%, which is the most modern in operation. The combined cycle unit is about 10% higher. In early October 2007, the engineering subsidiary of Spain’s IBERDROLA Public Utilities Group also undertook the contract for the construction of a 403MW combined cycle power plant in the Ural region of Russia.

Photovoltaic solar panels can convert 10% to 15% of solar energy into electricity, and are especially suitable for scattered rural electrification. Total uses photovoltaic solar panels to implement three large-scale programs in Africa to provide maintenance, maintenance and after-sales support services: in South Africa, it will be applied to 8,200 households, reaching 15,000 in mid-2007; in Morocco, it will be applied to 19,400 households, to Reaching 58,000 households by the end of 2008: it will be applied to 500 households in Mali, and it is planned to reach 5,500 households.

A consortium of 12 European companies led by Germany signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a joint venture on July 13, 2009, to cooperate in the construction of large-scale solar power projects in the African desert. The large-scale project called the “Desert Industry Action Plan” is supported by the German government. This project will attract 400 billion euros (for 558.93 billion U.S. dollars) of investment in the construction of large-scale solar power generation facilities. The power supply is as high as 15%. The partners will plan this project within three years. The project called “DII” will install solar power generation facilities with a capacity of up to 100GW in several African countries. Participating in this project are the two largest public utility companies in Germany, E.ON and RWE. RWE said the project will supply electricity to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The other 10 European companies are Cevita1, German Bank, HSH Nord-bank, MAN Solar Millennium, Muenchener Rueck, M+WZander, Schott Solar and Siemens, Spain ABENGOA Solar and Swiss ABB supplement company.

The Algerian State-owned Natural Gas and Electricity Company announced on November 22, 2009 that Algeria’s first solar photovoltaic power plant will be put into operation in 2012, with a total estimated cost of approximately US$100 million and an annual production capacity of 50MW. The solar photovoltaic power plant is located in Algiers. The Luweiba Industrial Zone in the eastern suburbs covers an area of ​​4hm2. According to the National Renewable Energy Strategy, the government will work hard to cultivate and absorb leaders in the field of renewable energy, and establish a renewable energy research institute in the central Ghardaia province to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan. This power generation base mainly transmits electricity to rural areas on the southern edge.

Algeria plans to achieve 5% of the country’s total power generation from renewable energy in 2015. At present, the construction of a 150MW solar and natural gas hybrid large-scale power station in Sahara Hasi Rumail has started and is expected to be delivered in 2010. In addition, a 10MW wind power plant project will also be completed.