Algerian Energy Policy: Perspectives, Barriers, and Missed Opportunities

Despite the uncertainties of the energy market impacted by the collapse of oil prices and a sharp increase in domestic energy consumption, Algeria continues to make huge efforts to bring energy access to its people. At the same time, the country is also witnessing a very slow start of the energy transition, which brings into question the energy-intensive development model accused of contributing both to global warming and to the depletion of fossil resources in the medium and long term. Although quantified targets are set, the National Program for the Development of Renewable Energies (NPDRE) struggles to take off and is lagging behind. There is no doubt that the recent fall in oil prices will further complicate the achievement of this transition; still one may raise the question of whether other barriers to the NPDRE should not be removed. Admittedly, the Algerian State has set up an incentive mechanism based on feed-in-tariffs to boost the NPDRE, but this failed to attract potential investors. This paper seeks to analyze the reasons for these failures as well as other issues linked with the energy-water-food trilemma. There are plenty, but the heavily subsidized energy products appear to be the most disabling.