Tunisia set to bring live 10-MW Tataouine solar plant

A solar power plant with a capacity of 10 MW will be put into operation in southern Tunisia in the coming days to support the country's power grid amid record-high power demand.

The Tunisian Company for Electricity and Gas, known as STEG, and state-owned industrial company ETAP are preparing to connect the Tataouine solar park to the grid after a three-year delay, news agency Tunis Afrique Press (TAP) said on Tuesday.

The solar park was completed in June 2019 and after a long delay, it was supposed to go online in September 2021. However, its commissioning was again postponed for a further ten months due to opposition by regional coordinators.

The facility was built by ETAP in cooperation with Italy's Eni SpA (BIT:ENI). The realisation of the project cost TND 30 million (USD 9.57m/EUR 9.39m).

The commissioning of the Tataouine solar plant comes on the heels of the first floating photovoltaic (PV) park in the Middle East and North Africa which went online in Tunisia at the end of June. The facility, built in partnership between STEG and power producer Qair Group, is expected to supply 265 MWh of clean electricity annually to a neighbourhood in the country's capital.

The North African country is now planning to launch tenders to deploy 2,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, including solar and wind energy.

(TND 1.0 = USD 0.319/EUR 0.313)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!