Tozeur’s Solar Plant Now Operational

The first photovoltaic power plant of Tunisia in Tozeur has finally become operational after undergoing several months of delay. The official inauguration will be done in early 2022.

The 10 MW plant is built by algoWatt erstwhile TerniEnergia, a subsidiary of Italian-based Italeaf S.p.A., under a contract signed with the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines, and the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG).

The project is the result of Tunisian-German technical cooperation, funded by German state-owned KfW with a low-interest loan amounting to $13.3 million.

Another solar power plant, Tozeur II with 29,000 photovoltaic panels is also under development in the area. Equipped with 31,000 photovoltaic panels, Tozeur I plant has already begun testing, while the tests of commissioning the Tozeur II will take place within a few days.

The rate of progress of the work of the plant of Tozeur I has reached 99% and that of Tozeur II is about 97%.

With a total capacity of 20MW and area coverage of 20 hectares, the two solar power plants in Tozeur will allow Tunisia to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 17,000 tonnes each year. It will contribute to 30% of the annual consumption of electricity in the region, once the work is completed.

The European Union has already granted a donation of $1.7 million to the STEG, and the German government has also agreed to support with the fund $0.58 million under the International Initiative for Climate Protection.

Conventional power plants in Tunisia still generate 97% of their total power. The country’s first solar power plant in Tozeur, at the edge of the Sahara, is making an important contribution to its energy transition.