CDER: An ambitious triennial research program to accompany the energy transition in Algeria
Today, renewable energies are at the heart of Algeria’s energy and economic policies; Their development is placed as a national priority.
Implementation of the national renewable energy program will enable the emergence of a strong renewable energy industry in Algeria. The development of the renewable industry, which requires innovation and technological development, will inevitably contribute to the emancipation of research, innovation and development in this highly technological niche and will create more bridges between the world of Research and the world of industry. The process of research, development, demonstration and dissemination of the research product must be supported by the integration of technological policies and market measures. Supporting RD & D in the field of renewable energy is also a national priority and a strategic choice to develop new energy solutions that are both reliable and clean and affordable, through technological development, technology maturity, the competitiveness of technologies and the large-scale deployment of renewable energy.
This support must come from both public authorities and private companies. Funding for RD & D projects in renewable energy must be assessed not only in terms of economic or environmental prospects, but also in terms of geopolitical strategy as the positioning of countries in a world dominated by renewable energy will depend on the degree of technological mastery and its integration into the national economy.
Conscious of these challenges, the EPST Renewable Energy Development Center (CDER) has developped Its three-year program of Research and Development 2017-2019, which is part of the implementation of the third law on scientific research and technological development promulgated in December 2015. This three-year program accompanies the implementation of the two renewable energy development and energy efficiency programs.
Due to the current difficult financial situation of the country, our actions will be oriented towards the mutualization and capitalization of the human resources and material resources of EPST CDER. As such, the new triennial research projects 2017-2019 have been developped based on this new strategy for mobilizing local resources.
These research projects validated by the Scientific Council of EPST CDER aim to carry out applied research in priority areas having a real impact on the economic sector. Indeed, this new three-year program 2017-2019 has been established taking into account, first of all, the issues posed by the socio-economic sector and the ground realities and secondly, considerable technological advances of renewable energy in the world.
Research projects are developed around photovoltaic solar, solar thermal and geothermal, energy efficiency, wind, bioenergy and hydrogen and fuel cells and concern the main sectors of economic development namely : Energy, Industry, Building, Agriculture, Transportation, Water, Environment. The guiding principles of this program are essentially the mastery of renewable technologies and technologies deploying small, medium and large capacities. In this sense, protocols will be developed to study the performance and reliability of photovoltaic or wind power plants that have already in service to draw lessons and experiments, particularly in sites characterized by extreme climatic conditions. New projects will deal not only with the evaluation of renewable potentials and the identification of sites eligible for the implementation of solar or wind farms but also with the forecast of production taking into account weather forecasts.
Collaboration with major international research institutions will be strengthened to acquire more expertise in new areas of research such as the digitization of energy systems, energy storage technologies, etc.
This program also aims at strengthening the EPST quality infrastructure by finalizing the two testing laboratories for solar water heaters and calibrating pyranometers in order to certify them according to the ISO17025 standard. This approach will be extended to solar photovoltaic systems.
Lastly, the recruitment of researchers and research support staff and the acquisition of high-tech scientific equipment will be carried out with a view to consolidating the foundations of the various research divisions in human resources and equipment essential for the control of the components and devices of Renewable Energy Conversion Systems.
Professor N. YASSAA, Director of the CDER
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