Algerian Power Plant to Start 2018: Report

A 446-MW gas-fired power project at Boutelis, near the Algerian city of Oran, is now scheduled to enter service in September 2018 after eight months of tests, a local official has told state news agency APS.

The project consisting of two gas turbines, each of 223 MW, began construction 2012 and was to have been finished in 2015 but was delayed as the foundations were found to be on gypsum. Following work to reinforce foundations, GE and France’s Cegelec are now expected to deliver the plant late 2017 and have it installed mid-2018, the official told APS. 

Oran, which already has four power plants totalling 1.200 GW, will see its generation capacity reach 1.646 GW once the new plant enters service.

Algerian gas demand has risen steadily in recent years as gas-fired generation capacity is added, and industrial users switch from other fuels. Indigenous gas production has not kept pace in recent years, but a study last year pointed to a likely increase of some 20bn m³/yr from new fields by 2020.

Mark Smedley