North African countries have signed agreements worth several billion dollars for the construction of independent power projects (IPPs) in the last year alone, to meet rapidly expanding demand. Economic and demographic growth, especially in Egypt, has underpinned the rise in electricity consumption. Libya is phasing out its oil-fired plants, while in Algeria, the construction of energy-intensive desalination plants is driving up its domestic power needs. All these countries have large gas reserves with which to supply new IPPs. But construction costs are soaring, in addition to which, other industrial projects are competing for gas supplies, raising nuclear energy’s profile as a future source of electricity in the region.



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