IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/sumafo/v31y2023i1d10.1007_s00550-024-00532-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fossil gas lock-in risks: analysis of Algeria’s electricity sector and implications for a renewable energy transition

Author

Listed:
  • Imane Boukhatem

    (Europa-Universität Flensburg)

  • Pao-Yu Oei

    (Europa-Universität Flensburg
    Technische Universität Berlin)

Abstract

Algeria's electricity sector is dependent on fossil gas. Domestic gas demand is growing, and gas-fired power plants are projected to make up 84% of total installed capacity by 2028. This brings the country into a Sustainability Nexus dilemma: on the one hand, Algeria is committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of the gas sector, whereas on the other hand, the energy and export revenue derived from gas would need to be substituted in order to ensure social and economic development in the country. Socioeconomic tradeoffs and alternatives must therefore be understood and managed in a way that ensures continued political and public support for the country's energy transition and fossil fuel exit. This paper aims to (a) identify fossil gas lock-in factors and (b) explore the opportunities to overcome these obstacles in order to facilitate a transition into renewable energy. Using a deductive approach, we draw on theoretical assumptions regarding carbon lock-in theory and the 2020 framework of Trencher et al. to study (1) technological and infrastructural conditions, (2) actors and agency, (3) formal and informal institutions, knowledge and competences, and (4) exogenous context. Between November 2021 and March 2022, a total of 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted in Algeria with stakeholders from the government, power and industry organizations, civil society organizations, and scientific institutions. The interview transcripts were then thematically analyzed to get a picture of recurrent themes and patterns. Our analysis identified several factors contributing to the fossil gas lock-in in Algeria's electricity system: economic dependence on oil and fossil gas; the significant influence of oil and gas actors, and the governmental support for fossil gas; gas and electricity subsidies, which lock out all other energy alternatives; and an overall lack of attention to climate change in energy policy formulation and in political and societal debate, despite the major capacity expansion plans prompted by heatwaves. The paper ends with a brief discussion of how Algeria's gas lock-in may worsen due to the war in Ukraine.

Suggested Citation

  • Imane Boukhatem & Pao-Yu Oei, 2023. "Fossil gas lock-in risks: analysis of Algeria’s electricity sector and implications for a renewable energy transition," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 25-40, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sumafo:v:31:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00550-024-00532-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s00550-024-00532-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00550-024-00532-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00550-024-00532-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Unruh, Gregory C., 2000. "Understanding carbon lock-in," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 817-830, October.
    2. Saiah, Saiah Bekkar Djelloul & Stambouli, Amine Boudghene, 2017. "Prospective analysis for a long-term optimal energy mix planning in Algeria: Towards high electricity generation security in 2062," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 26-43.
    3. Belkacem OUCHENE, 2021. "L’exploitation des hydrocarbures en Algérie : de la richesse à la gouvernance défaillante et à la corruption," CIRIEC Working Papers 2109, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    4. Younes Zahraoui & Mohammed Reyasudin Basir Khan & Ibrahim AlHamrouni & Saad Mekhilef & Mahrous Ahmed, 2021. "Current Status, Scenario, and Prospective of Renewable Energy in Algeria: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Foxon, T. J. & Gross, R. & Chase, A. & Howes, J. & Arnall, A. & Anderson, D., 2005. "UK innovation systems for new and renewable energy technologies: drivers, barriers and systems failures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(16), pages 2123-2137, November.
    2. Piotr Lis & Zuzanna Rataj & Katarzyna Suszyńska, 2022. "Implementation Risk Factors of Collaborative Housing in Poland: The Case of ‘Nowe Żerniki’ in Wrocław," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, February.
    3. Natalie Slawinski & Jonatan Pinkse & Timo Busch & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjeed, 2014. "The role of short-termism and uncertainty in organizational inaction on climate change: multilevel framework," Working Papers hal-00961226, HAL.
    4. Amina Tahri & Mohsine Bouya & Mokhtar Ghazouani & Ouafae Achak & Tarik Chafik & Khalid El Azdi & Sanae Boughanbour, 2022. "Impact of Solar Energy Integration on the Rheological and Chemical Properties of Bitumen," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "How do electoral competition and special interests shape the stringency of renewable energy standards?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 14(1), pages 23-34, January.
    6. Francesco Lamperti & Giovanni Dosi & Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini & Alessandro Sapio, 2018. "And then he wasn't a she : Climate change and green transitions in an agent-based integrated assessment model," Working Papers hal-03443464, HAL.
    7. Curci, Ylenia & Mongeau Ospina, Christian A., 2016. "Investigating biofuels through network analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 60-72.
    8. Bessi, Alessandro & Guidolin, Mariangela & Manfredi, Piero, 2021. "The role of gas on future perspectives of renewable energy diffusion: Bridging technology or lock-in?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Zhang, Hui & Cao, Libin & Zhang, Bing, 2017. "Emissions trading and technology adoption: An adaptive agent-based analysis of thermal power plants in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 23-32.
    10. Hellsmark, Hans & Hansen, Teis, 2020. "A new dawn for (oil) incumbents within the bioeconomy? Trade-offs and lessons for policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. João Tovar Jalles, 2024. "Financial Crises and Climate Change," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(1), pages 166-190, March.
    12. Mander, Sarah. L. & Bows, Alice & Anderson, Kevin. L. & Shackley, Simon & Agnolucci, Paolo & Ekins, Paul, 2008. "The Tyndall decarbonisation scenarios--Part I: Development of a backcasting methodology with stakeholder participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3754-3763, October.
    13. Hötte, Kerstin & Pichler, Anton & Lafond, François, 2021. "The rise of science in low-carbon energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    14. Balkrishna C. Rao & Ingo Liefner, 2023. "Frugal Engineering of Advanced Frugal Innovations for Global Sustainability Entrepreneurship," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(2_suppl), pages 69-88, November.
    15. Shum, Kwok L. & Watanabe, Chihiro, 2007. "Photovoltaic deployment strategy in Japan and the USA--an institutional appraisal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1186-1195, February.
    16. Monica Santillan Vera & Lilia Garcia Manrique & Isabel Rodriguez Pena & Angel de la Vega Navarro, 2021. "Drivers of Electricity GHG Emissions and the Role of Natural Gas in Mexican Energy Transition," Working Paper Series 1021, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    17. Marzieh Ronaghi & Michael Reed & Sayed Saghaian, 2020. "The impact of economic factors and governance on greenhouse gas emission," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 153-172, April.
    18. Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Sinking costs to increase participation: technology deployment agreements enhance climate cooperation," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(3), pages 229-240, July.
    19. Christiansen, Atle Christer, 2002. "New renewable energy developments and the climate change issue: a case study of Norwegian politics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 235-243, February.
    20. Marletto, Gerardo, 2011. "Structure, agency and change in the car regime. A review of the literature," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 47, pages 71-88.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:sumafo:v:31:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00550-024-00532-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.