Tunisia to Establish IPP Projects to Meet Electricity Demand

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tunisia is targeting the installation of 5,000 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity through independent power projects (IPPs), using a mix of wind and conventional power plants.

According to a study conducted recently and based on the Tunisian Wind Atlas, the wind energy potential in Tunisia could reach 8,000 MW. The government is planning to harness 2,700 MW of wind power through 2030.

Tunisia constructed the country's first wind project, which had capacity of 10 MW, in the El Haouaria region in 2000. The first 10-MW expansion was completed in 2003; a 54-MW expansion in Sidi Daoud started in 2008 and was completed early in the first quarter of 2010.

In January 2011, a feasibility study for a 60-MW windfarm in Tunisia was initiated. The Agence Nationale Tunisienne de Maitrise de l'énergie (ANME) has announced a plan to increase the project's capacity to 120 MW. The project is part of a short term plan to install 4% of Tunisia's generating capacity sourced from wind energy by 2012.

The Tunisian grid covers 99% of the country's homes, and power demand is growing at an annual rate of 5%. To meet this growth in electricity demand, the Societé Tunisienne de l'Electricite et du Gaz (STEG) is relying on IPP projects as a fast-track solution to cope with the growth of annual electricity demand of electricity and to the export of power surplus to Europe.

STEG is inviting bids for two major IPPs: the Bizerte plant, with a capacity of 350 to 500 MW, is scheduled to be on stream in 2014, and the 1,200-MW Elmed plant is scheduled to be commissioned by 2014; 800 MW of the Elmed plant's output will be exported to Italy via a 200-kilometer marine cable to Sicily. The winning bidder will develop the project on a build-own-operate basis under a 20-year concession. The developer will have the option of doubling the IPP's capacity at a later date. STEG will purchase the plant's output.

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