Algeria Switches On Its Largest Solar Plant Yet: 300 MW at El Oued
Algerian state utility Sonelgaz has brought online the 300 MW El Oued Foullia solar plant in eastern Algeria, now the country’s largest operating photovoltaic project, as part of a national program aimed at freeing up more domestic gas for export.
The plant was built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in partnership with Shaems, a renewable-energy joint venture owned by state gas company Sonatrach and Sonelgaz. Construction began in 2024, and the Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energy Resources, led by Mourad Adjal, announced the plant’s entry into service this week, calling it part of an effort to reduce reliance on conventional generation and support local economic development.
Algeria’s third big solar plant this year
El Oued Foullia is the third large-scale solar project Algeria has commissioned in 2026, following two 200 MW plants — one at Tendla in El Meghaier province and another at El-Ghrous in Biskra — that came online earlier in the year. Together, the three projects form the first phase of a national renewable program that Algiers has set at roughly 3.2 GW across 21 plants spread over 14 provinces.
The African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) tracks about 2.87 GW of operational solar capacity in Algeria to date, of which 1.7 GW is commercial and industrial rather than utility-scale, with a further 220 MW in various stages of development. Algeria’s longer-term target is 15 GW of installed solar capacity by 2035.
Freeing up gas for a hungry European market
Algeria is one of Europe’s largest pipeline gas suppliers, and a top source of Italy’s natural gas imports via the Transmed and Galsi-linked infrastructure. Every megawatt of domestic power generated from solar rather than gas-fired plants is, in principle, a megawatt of gas Sonatrach can instead sell abroad — a calculation that has pushed Algeria, alongside other North African gas producers, to accelerate utility-scale solar even as its power system remains overwhelmingly reliant on gas today.
A regional race to add solar
Algeria’s push mirrors a broader scramble across North Africa. Neighboring Tunisia recently closed bidding on its own 300 MW solar-plus-storage plant in Kebili, while further south, South Africa is fast-tracking 4,600 MW of battery storage to absorb its own growing renewable fleet. For Algeria, the near-term test will be whether CSCEC and Shaems can keep delivering the remaining plants in the 3.2 GW first phase on a similar timeline, and whether grid capacity in provinces like El Oued can absorb the added output without new transmission investment.
Sources
- pv magazine, “Algeria inaugurates 300 MW solar project,” October 27, 2026 — plant capacity, developer, national program figures, and the Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energy Resources’ announcement. pv-magazine.com
- Algeria’s Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energy Resources, public statement on the El Oued Foullia plant’s entry into service, October 2026 — cited via pv magazine.
Illustrative image. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
