Tunisia on 12 March awarded six licenses to build 10MW solar PV parks. The awards, worth around TD125mn ($41mn), take projects under Tunisia’s 2016 renewables action plan to 264MW, of which 144MW is solar PV and 120W wind. But actual work so far has been minimal.
With a further 1GW of tendered renewables projects yet to be awarded (MEES, 21 December 2018), Tunis is set to fall way short of its 2020 1GW renewables capacity target. Current renewables capacity consists of 240MW wind and 62 MW hydro - a meagre 5.7% of the total. Worryingly, Tunisia relies on gas for 97% of its power generation, importing 66% of its needs from Algeria. Of the latest awards, German firm Abo Wind says its planned 10MW solar park in Gabes governate in the country’s south will produce over 18GWh of power per year. French firm VSB Energies Nouvelles says it was awarded a 10MW solar project near Sidi Bouzid in central Tunisia. (CONTINUED - 204 WORDS)