OPEC member Algeria intends to issue a tender shortly for the construction of its first solar power village within a strategy to expand the use of renewable energy and reduce gas consumption, a newspaper revealed on Friday.

The Environment and Renewable Energy Ministry will issue the tender for the project in the Southeastern desert Illizi province, the Arabic language daily Elkhbar said.

The paper quoted Ministry sources as saying the project would be open for Algerian and foreign contractors and that the village would “entirely operate on solar energy.”

“The tender documents for this project have been prepared…the Ministry will issue the tender within the next few days,” the report said.

It quoted the sources as saying the project location was selected because supplying those remote desert areas with conventional electricity is very costly and that region is exposed to the sun round the year.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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