Under the deal, announced on 14 August, Alstom will supply two GT 13E2 gas turbines and undertake the civil works, erection, commissioning and testing of the open-cycle plant, which will be located in the Oum el-Bouaghi province.

Due to the urgent need for power, work on the F'Kirina plant is being fast-tracked. Alstom will begin construction work in September, and expects to start-up operations next October. Demand for power exceeds supply by around 450 MW at present, and Sonelgaz is pressing ahead with a major programme to increase generation capacity. New plants at Skikda and Arzew are expected to start up in 2005, adding a further 1,044 MW to the 6,000 MW presently installed. However, with demand for power growing at a rate of 6 per cent a year, further generating capacity still needs to be installed to avoid future shortages (Power, MEED Special Report, 25:7:03).