General Electric (GE) has signed three contracts to sell US$2.7bn worth of power equipment in Algeria, as the North African country seeks to increase its generation capacity
According to a Reuters news report, the largest contract for six combined-cycle power plants worth US$1.9bn, will add eight gigawatts to Algeria's generating capacity, an increase of 70 per cent.
Energy demand in Algeria has been estimated to be growing at an average annual rate of about 14 per cent, rising from about 12GW to 20GW by 2017.
The other two contracts comprise two fast-track projects that will add 528MW of capacity for this summer's peak demand, and a new simple-cycle power plant which will add 370MW to Algeria's electricity grid.
The biggest contract will be with Societe Algerienne de Production de l'Electricite, a unit of Algeria's national electricity and gas company Sonelgaz Group.
GE has also planned a joint venture with Sonelgaz to build a factory in Algeria to produce more than two gigawatts of power generation equipment a year, creating nearly 400 jobs.
