IFLISSEN & TIGZIRT

Algeria's plan to generate solar power for export and domestic use is an excellent innovation that other Arab states would do well to emulate, a renewable energy advocacy group said.

Wolfgang Palz of the Germany-based World Council for Renewable Energy said Arab states had been 'left behind a bit' in the Western-led race for alternatives to fossil fuels but could catch up because they had the necessary educational base.

'For modern types of renewable energies like wind energy, the leadership is right now in Europe, California and Texas,' Palz, an engineer and physician by training, said.

'Arab countries have been left behind a bit, and it's very important now that political decisions are being taken to catch up with the rest of the world because Arab countries have resources -- the intellectual resources -- to do this.'

'We think that in the long run all renewable energies will be greatly needed because fossil and atomic energy will be progressively-exhausted and disappear.'

Palz praised Algeria's plans to develop power for its domestic market as well as for exports from a hybrid solar-gas plant in the Sahara desert due to come on stream in 2009, with exports of power to Europe due to start up by 2015.

The initiative has drawn attention because Algeria at first glance is not in immediate need of extra energy sources.

Africa's second-largest country earns $1 billion a week in energy export receipts and has enough oil to last it for 23 years and enough gas for 50 years at current production rates.

But the country of 33 million has a fast growing population beset by high unemployment and booming demand for power.

Palz said Algeria's was a far sighted move that recognised that fossil fuels were finite and that the future lay in more energy co-operation between Europe and north Africa, a region that is already a major European gas supplier.

'It's excellent ...It's very wise of the Algerian government and energy ministry to promote renewable energies,' he said.

Palz worked from 1977 to 2001 at the European Commission as programme director for research and development of renewable energies and then promoting energy concerns in the its foreign aid programmes.

He is now in charge of European affairs at the Bonn-based council, a nonprofit group of scientists that lobby to bring renewable energy into the world economic mainstream.

Palz cautioned that energy industries in other Arab countries would not be able to emulate Algeria without the kind of political support the country's leaders had shown.

'Renewable energy is dependent on political support. As long as renewable energies are not financially and economically-competitive on the liberalised market, we need political support. But this energy will progressively be cheaper.'

'Everybody will be interested to see what will come out of this...Algeria has lot of resources and its co-operating on oil and gas. It's a question of extending this to new technologies.' Reuters