The Tozeur photovoltaic solar power plant will soon be connected to the national electricity distribution grid in Tunisia. Authorities refer to the end of June 2019. It is built by TerniEnergia. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract between the Italian company and the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (Steg) also provides for the installation of a battery storage system, which will allow the facility to continue to supply electricity after sunset.
The Tozeur solar power plant will have a 10 MW capacity. The Tunisian authorities estimate that the electricity it will produce in the future will avoid 8.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The project is also a boon for the state-owned company Steg, which will save the equivalent of 2,900 tonnes of oil per year.
In Tunisia, this project is part of the government’s policy to diversify the electricity mix, improve independence from fossil fuels (oil, gas, etc.) and “develop the enormous renewable energy potential (solar and wind energy)”. Construction of the Tozeur solar park began in 2017.
The project is financed by a €11.5 million loan supplemented by a €1.5 million grant from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the German development agency. The financial support comes under the European Union’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).
The Tozeur solar project also received a €500,000 donation from the German government as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), an effort by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It focuses on mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change and the protection of biological diversity. The programme supports several projects in Africa, including the expansion of the Rwandan start-up Ared, which is offering a mobile phone charging solution from its solar kiosks in Rwanda and Uganda.
Jean Marie Takouleu