Algeria has issued an international tender for the construction of 15 solar power plants with a combined capacity of nearly 2,000 megawatts (MW), local press reports have said.

The government-owned Sonelgaz issued the tenders for the plants in 11 provinces across the North African OPEC producer, the Arabic language daily Elkhabar said.

The paper quoted Sonelgaz, which manages the electricity sector in the Arab nation, as saying in a brief statement on Facebook that each plant would have a generation capacity of between 80 and 220 MW.

“This project is in line with the decision of the country’s higher authorities to charge Sonelgaz  with the execution of a national renewable energy programme,” it said.

“Sonelgaz has mobilized all its resources to launch phase 1 of that programme so it the company will become a pioneer in alternative energy production in Algeria.”