General Electric has signed three contracts to sell about $2.7 billion in power equipment to Algeria, as the North African country seeks to massively increase its generation capacity.

The largest contract, for six combined-cycle power plants worth $1.9 billion, will add 8 gigawatts (GW) to Algeria's generating capacity, an increase of 70%, GE said.

Energy demand in Algeria is estimated to be growing at an average annual rate of about 14%, rising from about 12 GW to 20 GW by 2017, GE said in a statement.

The other two contracts comprise two fast-track projects that add 528 MW of capacity for this summer's peak demand, and a new simple-cycle power plant to add 370 MW to Algeria's electricity grid, the company said.

The biggest contract is with Societe Algerienne de Production de l'Electricite, a unit of Algeria's national electricity and gas company, Sonelgaz Group.

GE said it also planned a joint venture with Sonelgaz to build a factory in Algeria to produce more than 2 GW of power generation equipment a year, creating nearly 400 jobs.

GE shares, which have gained 14% this year to Friday's close, were up about 1% in premarket trading on Monday. The stock closed at $24.01 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company's shares are poised to outperform the stock market after lagging for more than a decade, as GE's business outgrows the economies where it operates, financial newspaper Barron's said in its September 23 edition.