Implication des compétences nationales – La Nouvelle République Algérie

Involvement of national skills

Development of the lithium sector in Algeria

Coordination between the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Mines and the Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energy, which concern closely complementary departments, was launched this Thursday with a meeting co-chaired by the two ministers in the presence of the Secretary of State for Mines, Mrs. Karima Bakir Tafer, as well as several senior executives from the two ministerial departments and their institutions under supervision. This meeting was devoted to monitoring the progress of the development of the lithium sector in Algeria, as part of the implementation of the orientations of President Abdelmadjid
Tebboune, aiming to enhance strategic national resources and promote industries of the future with high added value, indicated a joint press release from the two ministries.
It focused on concrete means of developing the lithium sector, considered a major pillar of the energy transition process and a strategic lever for strengthening Algeria’s industrial and technological sovereignty, said the same source.
During the meeting, Mohamed Arkab presented an exhaustive presentation on the progress of lithium mining exploration projects, including field studies carried out in the wilayas of Tamanrasset and In Guezzam, in collaboration with the Chinese group Ganfeng Lithium Group, which revealed promising indicators of the presence of this strategic resource as well as other rare minerals.
He also discussed the practical stages of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding recently signed between the National Office of Geological and Mining Research (Orgm), representative of the Sonarem group, and Professor Karim Zaghib, international expert in lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery technologies, aimed at developing the entire value chain of the lithium industry in Algeria.
For his part, Mourad Adjal underlined the importance of coordinating efforts between the different sectors concerned for the development of an integrated national roadmap including the stages of exploration, extraction, chemical transformation, industrialization, battery manufacturing and energy storage. He called, in this regard, to involve national skills and Algerian experts established abroad in this process with a view to building a solid scientific and industrial base. The two ministers noted that the development of the lithium sector constituted one of the strategic pillars of the New Algeria process, due to its direct link with the renewable energy and electricity transmission sectors, affirming that this project is consistent with the objectives of the national energy transition aimed at reducing the carbon footprint and diversifying sources of economic income.
At the end of the meeting, emphasis was placed on a set of practical priorities, notably the acceleration of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding with Professor Karim Zaghib, the development of a joint work program between the two ministries in order to develop the sector in the medium and long term, the strengthening of coordination between scientific research and industry, and the launch of pilot projects for the manufacture of active materials used in the composition of LFP batteries.
The two ministers also stressed that the development of the lithium sector constituted a strategic choice to build a national economy based on knowledge and clean technology, while contributing to the achievement of Algeria’s energy and technological sovereignty.
As a reminder, last April, in a statement at the end of the audience granted to him by President Tebboune, researcher Karim Zaghib affirmed that the President of the Republic had listened to his proposals concerning the means capable of developing the lithium sector and manufacturing this type of batteries, through “optimal exploitation of lithium, iron and phosphate mines”.
The researcher highlighted “the great potential that Algeria has in this area” in addition to its executives and its young skills, indicating that the President of the Republic had expressed his support for efforts in favor of the development of this sector in Algeria.
Lakhdar A.