The solar potential of North Africa is exceptional. The most formal proof of this is the realization, in 2016, of the Moroccan solar complex Noor, located in the province of Ouarzazate, in the southeast of the country. Equipped with four technologically different solar power plants and spread over more than 3000 hectares, this solar project aims to increase the share of renewable energy in Morocco’s national electricity mix to more than 52% by 2030. Capable of supplying electricity to more than two million Moroccans, the project has been supported by partners and investors such as the African Development Bank Group, Masen, and the European Union.
On the Egyptian side, it is the Benban Solar Park, located in the Aswan Governorate and commissioned in 2019, that commands admiration! With a maximum capacity of 1650 megawatts peak, the annual production is estimated at 3.8 terawatt-hours. Benban has since become the largest solar installation in the world.
But what is happening on the Tunisian side? Why are the country’s energy ambitions not reaching the goals achieved by its neighbors?
Due to the monopolistic behavior of the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG), disagreements between investors, partners, authorities, and local organizations, large-scale solar projects in southern Tunisia are being canceled over time without reaching agreements.
For now, only two solar power plant projects (the Tozeur photovoltaic plant and the Tataouine plant) are operational, but their energy production is not enough to meet the country’s annual energy ambitions.
Indeed, the recent news of the cancellation of a solar power plant project in the city of Gafsa is not a good sign. At odds with the Tunisian authorities, the Franco-Moroccan consortium ENGIE/NAREVA will not build this plant, due to disagreements over the pricing basis for electricity commercialization. The recent spike in solar panel prices and the prices proposed by the Tunisian authorities have made the project unprofitable, according to the same consortium.
Furthermore, other information has reached us that Scatec, the Norwegian energy company entrusted with the construction of another solar power plant project in Tataouine, is finally abandoning the project. The company no longer believes in the economic viability of the project, given “the economic upheavals, post-COVID inflation, and the increase in interest rates by at least 4%.”
The project has therefore been reassigned to an Emirati competitor, but they cannot start work without the approval of the Tunisian parliament, which has been frozen until the crucial date of the next presidential elections on October 6.
Lagging in the race for sustainable development, Tunisia finds itself stalled due to blockages and disagreements.
Ahmed Lagha
Cofounder and Treasurer
Ahmed Lagha
Cofounder and Treasurer
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