Algerian and German technical and policy officials opened a targeted dialogue on quality infrastructure for renewable energy and green hydrogen on the margins of the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025, advancing a cooperation agenda that seeks to turn laboratory capacity and standards into tangible project readiness. Noureddine Yassaa, Algeria’s Secretary of State responsible for Renewable Energy, met with Carl Felix Wolff, advisor for international cooperation at Germany’s PTB, to discuss extending an existing partnership that has already delivered laboratory accreditations and now focuses on the emerging green hydrogen value chain.
The meeting revisited a regional programme titled “Strengthening of the Infrastructure Quality for Solar Energy in the Maghreb,” through which Algeria’s Renewable Energy Development Centre (CDER) secured accreditations under ISO/IEC 17025 for key solar testing and calibration services, including calibration of pyranometers and performance testing for solar thermal sensors. Those credentials establish CDER as a regional reference point for solar measurement and give Algeria a technical foothold as it expands domestic renewable capacity and prepares to certify projects for export and finance.
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Technical officials framed quality infrastructure as the missing link between policy ambition and commercial finance. Accurate irradiance data, validated module and sensor testing, and harmonized calibration routines reduce technical risk in project design and operation; those elements directly affect investor confidence, insurance pricing and eligibility for international procurement frameworks. International actors including PTB and IRENA have emphasized that coherent quality-infrastructure ecosystems; laboratories, standards, accreditation and trained personnel, are foundational if green hydrogen and other power-to-X products are to meet international trading and safety requirements.
The Algeria–PTB agenda aligns with broader German engagement on hydrogen with Algerian authorities. Berlin and Algiers established a bilateral hydrogen taskforce in 2024 to explore policy frameworks, reference plants and export logistics, while German development cooperation has offered advisory support on strategy and pilot facilities aimed at positioning Algeria as a PtX (Power-to-X) producer for regional and European markets. Strengthening laboratory services and standardization is a practical complement to those policy and investment strands because it enables Algeria to demonstrate compliance with market and safety norms.
Algeria’s comparative advantages for PtX include large renewable resource potential, existing hydrocarbon infrastructure that could be repurposed for storage and transport, and geographic proximity to European off-takers. Those factors have attracted attention from industry and multilateral actors seeking reliable supply chains for green hydrogen and derivatives. Translating resource potential into export contracts requires not only electrolyser deployment and grid integration, but also certified measurement, testing and verification services that international buyers and finance institutions recognize. Quality infrastructure therefore becomes a central element in any credible export proposition.
Officials at the IATF discussion identified three practical priorities: expanding training programmes for laboratory technicians and metrologists; conducting inter-laboratory comparisons to ensure measurement harmonization across the Maghreb; and mapping quality-infrastructure requirements along the hydrogen value chain so that standards, certification pathways and testing capacity develop in step with project pipelines. PTB materials and recent multilateral roadmaps note that these measures reduce transaction costs and accelerate project bankability when implemented alongside policy incentives and concessional finance.
The conversation in Algiers therefore sits at the intersection of technical assistance and market development. For Algerian policymakers the immediate deliverable is stronger domestic capacity to verify renewable resources and certify equipment. For external partners the objective is to create an investable environment where private capital can underwrite large electrolyser and PtX installations with lower perceived risk. Achieving both outcomes will require continued coordination among national agencies, international technical partners and donors, and clear timelines for accreditation and capacity milestones.
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The PTB–CDER discussions at IATF 2025 mark a consequential step in converting Algeria’s renewable advantage into tradeable green energy products. Observers in the region will watch whether the technical work on standards and laboratories proceeds at pace and whether those efforts attract the finance and industrial partnerships necessary to scale pilot projects into commercial operations. The next phase will test whether quality infrastructure investment can bridge the gap between policy statements and deliverable projects that meet international buyers’ expectations.
