Tunis — The bill on the creation of an independent regulatory authority for the electricity sector had been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval, said Secretary of State to Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy in charge of Energy Transition Wael Chouchane at a seminar held on Tuesday in Tunis, under the theme: "Renewables in Tunisia: Legal Framework and Funding Mechanisms."
"This bill is among the reforms which will have a major impact on speeding up renewable energy projects," he indicated during this event organised at the initiative of the Tunisia-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCITF).
The ministry will also work on devising a new code for renewables, aimed at amending the legal framework in terms of exporting and producing electricity, transport and exporting green hydrogen, he indicated.
The revision of the system of authorisations for small- and medium-sized projects for the exclusive sale to the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) is also one of the reforms currently under way, he underlined, adding that his department had decided to set a tariff for the sale of electricity according to the various production capacities and to facilitate the procedure by dispensing with the call for tenders.
1700 MW generation projects to be operational before end of 2028
Speaking about the first international call for tenders under the concession system for five photovoltaic projects with a total capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), launched in 2019, the Secretary of State blamed the delay in completing these projects on the international crises, which had had notably an impact on the rise in investment costs.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He indicated in this regard, that 5 projects are expected to be launched between Q2 and Q3 of 2025, recalling that three calls for tenders had been launched last year to produce 1,700 MW of electricity from renewables over 2024-2026, including 1,100 MW of photovoltaic energy and 600 MW of wind power.
"All projects under the 1,700 MW programme are scheduled to be implemented before the end of 2028," he pointed out.
In a bid to inject a new vigour into the renewable energy sector, while meeting new international requirements such as the EU Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Secretary of State said that the Industry Ministry had finalised a set of reforms, including the simplification of the procedure for self-generation projects with a capacity of more than 1 MW and the elimination of the Ministry's authorisation requirement for self-consumption projects of less than 1 MW.
Tunisia has recently increased the share of renewables in its electricity production from 30% to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2035.
As regards reducing demand, the target set by the energy transition strategy for 2035 is to reduce primary energy intensity by 3.6% per year.
