[ecr]

The announcement was made in a joint statement to the press with Germany's Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for the Economy and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, after the signing ceremony of several agreements between the two parties and the proceedings of a round table on cooperation issues of common interest, such as renewable energy and the development of the H2 Southern Corridor.

The minister indicated that an action plan for hydrogen development had been set up between Algeria and the German government, through technical coordination between Sonatrach and German companies.

The plan includes an experimental green hydrogen production project at Sonatrach's Arzew site in the province of Oran, with a capacity of 50 megawatts and a German government contribution of €20 million.

According to Arkab, this project, which represents the starting point for the development of hydrogen with the German government, will be followed by several projects to produce green hydrogen in Algeria and market it in Germany and Europe, through the Corridor Sud H2 project, which consists of the construction of a gas pipeline to transport hydrogen via the Mediterranean Sea, currently under study between Germany, Austria, Italy, Tunisia and Algeria.

"Shortly, a 1st meeting will be held between the ministers concerned by this corridor, at which decisions will be taken for the development and implementation of this project. Consideration l be given to the creation of a second direct pipeline from Algeria to Europe for the transport of green hydrogen,” continued the minister.

The project to build this hydrogen transport pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea has been approved by the European Commission, he said, underlining the need to step up efforts to carry out the in-depth technical and economic studies required to effectively launch the project as part of a long-term win-win partnership.

According to Arkab, “The round table, which took place behind closed doors, covered several topics, including energy and the production of green hydrogen, particularly renewable energy and the ways to develop them in Algeria, Germany being considered a pioneer country in this field.”

In this respect, the minister expressed Algeria's willingness to take advantage of German technology and its progress in this field, underlining that "Algeria is in a phase of energy transition and needs this technological support.”[/ecr]