Tunis — The power plant of Bir Mchergua built by American company "General Electric"(GE) for the benefit of the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) will commence production in June 2013, Minister of Industry Mohamed Lamine Chakhari announced Monday. It will have a capacity of over 200 MW.

"General Electric" is now working with STEG to support the emergency plan designed to modernise the company's production facilities to face up to problems of electricity cuts during peak demand."

"Efforts will be made to speed up the realisation of the country's energy infrastructure to meet the annual 8% increase in electricity demand which might even reach a rate of 10% during peak periods in summer," said the Minister of Industry as he received in Tunis Mr. John Rice, Vice-President of GE.

According to an Industry Ministry press release, the Minister expressed Tunisia's willingness to enter into deeper co-operation with GE, involving particularly electrical and aeronautic industries, in which "Tunisia has today the potential to play the role of industrial platform for General Electric thanks to the qualifications and human resources of the country and its proximity to the European market."

Vice-President of GE, John Rice stressed his company's commitment to diversity its partnership with Tunisia where it has initiated many projects for several years. He supported the idea of training Tunisian skills in "highly specialised areas."