Algeria’s Groupe GRTE, a subsidiary of the state-owned power and gas utility Sonelgaz, has launched a 700-km, 400 kV interconnector project aimed at linking the electricity grid in southern Algeria with the country’s national grid.
The interconnector project will connect the Pôle In Salah-Adrar-Timimoune (PIAT) network to the national interconnected network (RIN) through a double circuit (DC) high voltage (HV) electrical transmission line connecting Hassi R’mel and Timimoun in southern Algeria. The project is expected to require an investment of DZD135.5 billion and will strengthen the supply of electricity in the south of the country. GRTE has signed an agreement with local engineering and construction companies for the same. The interconnector project will cross Laghouat, Ghardaia, El Menea, and Timimoun, and will include the construction of three HV substations (400/220 kV) in Timimoun, El Menea, and Adrar. This ambitious project is expected to increase access to reliable electricity supply in the southern region. Furthermore, Algeria is also currently considering the construction of an HV transmission line of nearly 1,300 km directly linking Ghardaia and Tamanrasset, close to the border with Niger and Mali, as part of an Algeria-Africa electric bridge.