Algeria Switches On 300-MWp El Oued Solar Plant, Its Largest Yet

• Algeria inaugurated the 300-MWp El Foulia solar plant in Guemar, El Oued province, on Oct. 26, its largest photovoltaic plant to date.
• It is the third plant commissioned in 2026 after two 200-MW sites; Algeria had 437 MW of solar PV at end-2025, IRENA data show.
• The energy minister aims for more than 1,400 MW of new solar capacity in 2026, within a first 3,200-MWp phase of 22 plants.

Algeria inaugurated a 300-megawatt-peak (MWp) solar photovoltaic plant at El Foulia, in the Guemar municipality of El Oued province, on Oct. 26. Energy Minister Mourad Adjal opened the site, the state news agency APS reported.

El Foulia is Algeria's largest solar plant, state utility Sonelgaz said in a statement. Officials from its subsidiary Sonelgaz-Renewable Energies briefed the minister on the plant's equipment and on how its output is fed into the national grid. Neither Sonelgaz nor APS named the builder or the module supplier.

The plant is the third utility-scale solar project to enter service in Algeria this year. The first two, at Tendla in El Meghaier province and El Ghrous in Biskra province, entered service in April and are rated at 200 MW each. Algeria had 437 MW of solar PV at the end of 2025, according to IRENA's Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026.

El Foulia in numbers

• 300 MWp of photovoltaic capacity at El Foulia, in Guemar, El Oued province.
• 3rd solar plant to enter service in Algeria in 2026, after Tendla and El Ghrous.
• 700 MW brought online at the three plants this year, 1.6 times the country's end-2025 solar PV base (list.solar calculation).
• 437 MW of solar PV installed in Algeria at the end of 2025, per IRENA.
• 2% of the 15,000 MW of solar PV that Algeria targets by 2035 (list.solar calculation).
• 22 plants in the programme's first 3,200-MWp phase, which was 40% complete in April.

The 300-MWp plant is part of a national solar programme that targets 15,000 MW by 2035. Sonelgaz said the programme aims to cut the amount of natural gas burned to generate electricity. The energy ministry says Sonelgaz operates the country's renewable plants and sells their output on behalf of Sonelgaz Distribution.

The programme's first 3,200-MWp phase covers 22 plants of 80 MW to 220 MW in 12 southern and High Plateau provinces, according to APS and the energy ministry. In April, Adjal said those plants would be handed over in stages and that the sector aims to add more than 1,400 MW of solar capacity during 2026.