The concession agreement and power purchase agreement (PPA) for UAE-based AMEA Power's 100MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in Tunisia have been ratified by the government
A consortium of AMEA Power and China's TBEA Xinjiang New Energy Company was awarded the contract to develop the 100MW solar plant at Kairouan in Tunisia.
The project was part of the first round of solar projects which had been tendered through a competitive tendering process, launched in 2018. Construction work on the project is due to begin by the end of 2022.
Tunisian government is preparing a national strategy for solar power generation with the aim of reaching 3.8GW of installed solar power by 2030.
While the installed solar capacity in Tunisia in 2020 only reached 95MW, the government has awarded contracts or launched tenders for 1.1GW of solar capacity so far.
In December 2021, the final government approvals were granted for five solar independent power producer (IPP) projects with a total capacity of 500MW. The developers had been selected in 2019 following a competitive tendering process.
Energy & Utilities reported in December 2019 that three international developer groups had been selected to develop the projects after they had submitted bids in July 2019 for the 500MW programme.
The AMEA Power/TBEA Xinjiang consortium was awarded the 100MW Kairoun project for a tariff of TND97.920/kWh (US$3.44cents/kWh).
Norway's Scatec was awarded contracts for 300MW of capacity, which included a 200MW PV project at Tataouine. The US$2.4c/kWh is the lowest PV solar tariff achieved in Africa to date. The Norwegian firm was also awarded contracts to develop two 50MW PV solar plants in the areas of Tozeur and Sidi Bouzid.
A consortium of France's Engie and Morocco?s Nareva Renouvelables was awarded a contract to develop a 100MW project at Gafsa for a tariff of US$2.8c/kWh.
The selected developers signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with state energy company Societe Tunisienne de l?Electricite et du Gaz (STEG) for a concession period of 20 years under a build-own-operate (BOO) model.
