Tunisia Invests $3.2 Billion in Renewable Energy for Export to Europe

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In April 2009, a wind atlas of Tunisia was presented at a conference jointly organized by the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Embassy of Spain. The atlas is based on meteorological measurements (wind, temperature and air pressure) that have been carried out on 17 masts at heights of 60, 80 and 100 meters over the period of a year. The wind atlas of Tunisia is presented in geographic information system (GIS) format and is capable of showing wind data in layers of 10 meters.

Based on the wind data, Tunisia announced its strategy for sustainable energy development by announcing the ambitious plan to have 20% of the country's power come from renewable sources by 2020. In 2003, Tunisia implemented the first 10.3-megawatt (MW) windfarm in Sidi Daoud. A second phase of the project followed, increasing capacity to 20 MW. In 2008, a third phase enlarged the windfarm to 55 MW. In 2008, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) signed an agreement with Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) to supply 91 AE-61 wind turbines with a total capacity of 120 MW to build two wind energy plants: the 62-MW Metline and the 58-MW Kchabta plant. The contract value was $280 million. By early 2011, another 26 wind turbines will be added to the windfarms to increase installed capacity to 190 MW.

One of the most promising windfarms under development is Moncada Energy Group's (Agrigento, Italy) 500-MW El Haouira facility. Moncada aims to export power from a planned wind energy plant to Italy via a 400-kilovolt undersea cable.

In April 2009, plans to connect the Tunisian power grid to the Italian grid were jointly presented by the Tunisian Minister of Energy and the Italian Ministry of the Environment.

In November 2009 the Tunisian Minister for Industry, Afif Chelbi, announced that permission would be granted for solar projects totaling $2.8 billion. The solar program will be financed 70% from the private sector. The minister urged Spanish companies to make bids for contracts to build the infrastructure for an electrical connection between Tunisia and Europe via Italy.

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