Algeria provides electricity to 4 million Italian families...a huge anticipated project

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Italy announced the launch of a survey regarding the electrical interconnection project via submarine cables with Algeria to transmit clean electrical energy, including the areas through which this line is supposed to pass on the Italian mainland, which is expected to transmit at least 10 terawatt hours annually, enough to supply 4 million Italian families with electricity.

According to the survey launched by the Italian company ZHERO, a partner in the project, the consultations relate to the “Algerian-Italian Interconnector” project, which aims to transfer energy produced from renewable sources in the Algerian desert to Italy, via a submarine electric cable extending about 900 kilometers in the Mediterranean Sea, reaching the Italian electricity network.

The current stage of the survey includes organizing media and consultative meetings with citizens and local authorities in the Italian regions concerned with the course of the project, to present initial perceptions regarding the locations of the facilities associated with it, and to listen to comments and suggestions regarding them, within the framework of completing the administrative procedures necessary to obtain licenses, according to the Algerian newspaper “Al-Shorouk” website.

The company carried out a remote inaugural meeting on October 16, and the six in-person meetings will continue during the period from the 19 to the 23 of this month, in a number of municipalities in the Liguria region in northwestern Italy, which are areas located near a power station belonging to the “Terna” company, which operates the electricity transmission network in Italy, where the project is expected to be connected to the national grid.

The project includes facilities for producing energy from renewable sources in the Algerian desert with a capacity of no less than 5,000 megawatts, in addition to a marine electrical connection with a capacity of up to 2,000 megawatts, allowing the transfer of large quantities of clean electricity to the Italian market, according to the concept presented by the company that owns the project.

The company estimates that the facility can provide Italy with more than 10 terawatt hours of electricity annually, an amount equivalent to the estimated needs of about 4 million families, thus enhancing renewable energy supplies and contributing to diversifying sources of electricity supply and reducing carbon emissions, as well as supporting cooperation in the field of energy between Europe and North Africa.

The data provided regarding the project confirmed that it will be entirely financed from private sources, and is part of the initiatives of strategic importance at the European and Italian levels, within the framework of the European Union Global Portal and the “Matai” scheme, which aims to enhance cooperation and partnership between Italy and African countries, most notably Algeria.

The public consultation or “reconnaissance” falls within the process of obtaining licenses at the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, after preliminary meetings organized by the company with local authorities, institutions and associations concerned, with the aim of involving residents in discussing perceptions related to determining the locations of facilities associated with the project.