Economy

ALGIERS – The National Agency for the Promotion and Rationalization of Energy Use (APRUE), as part of the implementation of the National Energy Management Program (PNME), has converted nearly 120,000 LPG vehicles, said a statement from the Agency on Sunday.

Among its achievements in 2022, particularly in the Transport sector, the APRUE “achieved the record conversion of nearly 120,000 vehicles, taxis and individuals, to LPG fuel, with State aid ranging from 40 to 50% of the amount of the supply and installation of LPG/c kits, for a total amount of aid of 3.4 billion DA and for fuel savings (gasoline) of more than 200,000 tonnes, and avoided emissions of 122,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent”, according to the same source.

This project involved nearly 600 pre-selected installers, spread over the entire national territory, notes the press release.

For the residential building sector, the agency has supported and co-financed the thermal insulation of nearly 100 existing homes, with 11 pre-selected companies, and the supply and installation of more than 100 solar water heaters (CES), with 20 pre-selected companies, it was announced, adding that this sector “will experience greater growth” with the ongoing qualification of CES for national manufacturers, at the level of the CDER, with an integration rate of around 90%.

With regard to the building sector, the tertiary sector, the agency carried out the energy audit of two large “standard” hospitals, and contributed to the design of the “green” mosque of Sidi Abdellah (Algiers) in terms of energy performance , in collaboration with the BEREG and the Ministries of Housing and Religious Affairs, according to the same source, adding that the APRUE has started the construction of several solar PV power plants, for the self-production of energy in tertiary buildings.

For public lighting, the agency accompanied and co-financed the supply and installation, for the benefit of 18 beneficiary municipalities, of the substitution of 10,200 conventional luminaires with high energy performance luminaires, the press release continues.

In the Industry sector, the APRUE has supported and co-financed 14 feasibility studies and 7 direct investment projects, intended for the implementation of processes that contribute to improving energy efficiency in industrial units. , public and private, beneficiaries of this aid, and has carried out more than 30 energy audits of “large consumer” industrial units, in different sectors, according to the press release, adding that the agency has also accompanied the certified implementation of an energy management system, according to the ISO 50001 standard at the level of 2 industrial complexes.

A more substantial program for the period 2023-2030

The agency also gave specific training in energy management, for the benefit of 120 participants, engineers and technicians and mobilized the actors concerned and the general public around the issues and challenges of an energy transition, indicates the press release. adding that the agency has been active in many international cooperation programs, such as NNODEV, AEDA, LES COMMUNES VERTES, CLIM GOV programs. The APRUE is also a stakeholder and leader, for the energy efficiency part, in several other international cooperation programs.

In terms of research and development (R&D), the APRUE has entered into several applied research partnerships, such as the project to “promote biosourced materials with high thermal potential intended for energy efficiency in the building sector”, in partnership with the University of Ain Timouchent, and contributed to events intended to promote startups in the field of energy management, it is indicated in the same text.

In 2022, the APRUE also contributed to forecasting, by participating in the work to develop energy transition scenarios, and by carrying out more specific studies such as the one dedicated to clean and sustainable mobility, according to the press release, specifying that these studies have made it possible, on the one hand, to overhaul the energy management program and to establish new ambitious and pragmatic trajectories, and, on the other hand, to enrich the debates with all the stakeholders.

Thus, the APRUE considers that “It is with encouragement that it undertakes the implementation of a more substantial program, for the period 2023-2030, in line with the national strategic objectives of the energy transition, set by public authorities, namely, achieving 10% primary energy savings and massively developing renewable energy production, whether centralized or decentralized, by 2030”.

The budget which was committed in 2022, by the Agency, which “completely increased the missions which had been entrusted to it within the framework of the implementation of the PNME, by closing the remainder of all the previous programs, for which it was committed”, is nearly 7 billion DA, on all the targeted areas, we recall in the press release.

This budget, although it remains “insufficient” in view of the energy challenges and issues and their favorable macroeconomic effects, nevertheless affirms “the concrete contribution of the State to the gradual transformation of our society and our economy, from a carbon-intensive system, dependent on fossil fuels, towards a sustainable low-carbon energy system”.