Tunis — During a seminar held in Tunis on Tuesday, a guide identifying potential sites of wind-farms was presented to professionals and journalists attending the seminar.

The guide dubbed "Atlas Eolien de la Tunisie", is the fruit of a joint collaboration between the Tunisian energy saving agency (ANME) and Spain's centre of renewable energies.

The realization of the guide necessitated the setting of wind measuring instruments in 17 different sites in the country, as well as the use of statistics and data provided by the national meteorological centre.

In his opening address to the seminar, the Secretary of State in charge of renewable energies and food industries, Mr Abdelaziz Rassaa said that the Tunisian gas and electricity company (STEG) has built wind-farms in the region of Bizerta with a capacity of 120 MW. The wind-farms are expected to become operational in 2011, he added.

This new facility comes in addition to the Sidi Daoud plant which has a capacity of 55 MW.

Mr Rassaa also noted that a law promulgated in February 2009 gives incentives to industrial, agricultural or tertiary establishments which produce electricity from renewable energies for their own consumption.

These establishments will benefit from the transportation of the electricity thus produced by the national electrical network. 60 MW of the electricity produced by wind- farms, will be allocated to these enterprises which are great consumers of energy.

During the seminar, Spain's Ambassador to Tunisia, Mr Juan Ramon Martinez Salazar evoked Spain's experience in wind-farming. Spain is the world's third leading country in the sector. He also expressed his commitment to develop Tunisian -Spanish cooperation in wind energy development.