Adrar Initial State Investigation for the Use of Renewable Energies in Irrigation Systems Miloud Benmedjahed 1* , Abdeldjalil Dahbi 1,2 , Abdelkader Hadidi 1 , Abderrahmnane Khelfaoui 1 , Samir Mouhadjer 1 , Omar Djaafri 1 1 Unite de Recherche en Energies Renouvelables en Milieu Saharien (URERMS), Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, Adrar 01000, Alegria 2 Laboratory of Sustainable Development and Computing, (L.D.D.I), University of Adrar Department of Electrical Engineering, Adrar University, Adrar 1000, Algeria Corresponding Author Email: benmedjahed_78@yahoo.fr https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.180603 ABSTRACT Received: 2 March 2023 Accepted: 15 April 2023 This paper represents a study on a survey and statistical analysis of ground water resources in Adrar region in southern Algeria, with a presentation of the used irrigation methods especially Foggaras system, which is not only an irrigation method, but a way of life and cultural heritage. We noticed that the Foggaras suffer from several problems, such as lack of maintenance and random excavation, in addition the pollution especially with sewage water. We also noticed that despite the abundance of renewable energy resources, especially solar and wind energy, these resources are rarely used for irrigation or pumping. Therefore, as responses to these issues, many proposals were presented, which are mostly related to the exploitation of renewable energies for pumping and irrigation with clean water and managing it rationally to obtain the best yield and promote sustainable development. Keywords: hydrogeology, Foggaras, solar energy, wind energy, smart remote irrigation system, Adrar 1. INTRODUCTION Mankind has managed to adapt to the harsh desert climatic conditions, which are characterized by scarce precipitation and a high temperature, by exploiting groundwater resources. In addition thanks to the presence of some oasis that is available on agricultural and animal diversity [1]. The term oasis came from ancient Egyptian language, which means the inhabited area, and it was used by the geographer Herodotus around 450 BC [2]. Much research has been done on irrigation systems in the oases of the Maghreb, such as Todgha Farkala in Morocco. These oases are affected by bad water management; In addition to migration to urban areas. Therefore, investments were proposed based on the use of fossil fuel pumps to revive the agricultural sector [3-5]. In Algeria, some researches were focused on the inventory of groundwater sources, as well as the impact of modern wells random drilling on the hydraulic level of groundwater, which led to the lack of water reaching to Foggaras and thus the drying of its sources [6-8]. Since Algeria’s independence in 1962, the traditional management of water resources in Algerian oasis has been a feature of most of the oasis, which has led to several problems mainly related to the bad well managements, springs and blowers with the waste of water resulting from misuse [4]. In addition, climate change and an increase in temperature due to global warming. Therefore, Mohamed and Remini proposed an effective water control to address the problem of water distribution in rural areas [9]. Numerous studies have shown that Adrar region is rich in groundwater re- sources and fossil energy. It also contains huge solar potential [10-12] and significant potential of wind energy and the same for the wind potential [13-15]. In order to provide practical and sustainable answers against environmental problems by preserving energy resources of fossil origin, Algeria is firmly committed to the path of transition towards renewable energies, where the huge potential of solar energy is the driving force behind this strategic decision. The thermal solar energy and solar photovoltaic energy provide a large part of the national program for the energy transition, which should represent 37% of electricity production in the country by 2030. The program does not exclude wind energy, which represents the second axis of development, which should be about 3% of electricity production [16-36]. In this paper, at first Adrar region will be described in terms of physical, natural and human environment. After that, the ground water resources and the potential of renewable energies (photovoltaic and wind energy) will be focused on. Then, the number and types of available water sources will be counted, the used irrigation methods, and the observed difficulties will be investigated. In the next section, the use of these renewable energies in irrigation, pumping and Smart Remote Irrigation System in Adrar region will be studied. Finally, important recommendations will be added in order to rationalize the use of water and preserve the cultural heritage represented in Foggara, as well as the contribution to the energy transition. 2. METHODOLOGY At first, the initial state of the physical, human and natural environment is studied and analyzed. After that, a careful field investigation is carried out in several aspects, such as International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning Vol. 18, No. 6, June, 2023, pp. 1671-1680 Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/ijsdp 1671