The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently issued a favourable opinion on a loan application from the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Corporation (Steg). It is a 138 million euro financing. 108 million of this amount represents an AfDB loan and €30 million has been obtained from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF).
The USD 2 billion co-financing fund was launched by the AfDB and China for a period of 10 years. The €138 million allocated to Steg is intended to finance the implementation of the Project to develop and equip the electricity transmission network (Paerte).
A project that promotes the production of renewable energies
Le Paerte “is a truly structuring project. Its impact will be significant on the quality of electricity supplied throughout the country… The Steg will thus be in a better position to cope with the continuous increase in demand and to transport an even greater flow of electricity, particularly that produced by future solar and wind power plants under development,” explains Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB Managing Director for the North African region.
In the field, the Paerte work will be divided into three lots. As a first step, Steg will build a new substation in Chotrana, a town in the governorate of Ariana in the northeast of the country. The company will install several high-voltage underground cables in the Ariana and Tunis regions. The cables will be placed along the roads.
Lot II includes the extension of the 225/90 kV Nabeul II substation located in Aïn Kmicha, and the construction of a 225 kV line from this substation to a point where an entry and exit connection will be made on the future line between Bou Ficha and the substation to be built in Bou Argoub. The last part of the project concerns the construction of a 225 kV substation at Laroussia. A new high-voltage line will connect this substation to Mornaguia. This post, as well as that of Mateur, a city located 66 km from the capital Tunis, will be extended.
This project will require a total investment of €290 million. In addition to its equity capital (€31 million) and the AfDB loan (€138 million), Steg also plans to rely on €121 million in financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
Jean Marie Takouleu