- The Tozeur Power Plant in Tunisia is almost completed.
- The plant will provide 20MW of solar power to the Tozeur region.
- The plant was developed with support from the KfW, the German government and the EU.
After delays, the first solar PV plant deployed in Tozeur, southern Tunisia, is now operational. The plant will be inaugurated early next year. According to the head of the station, Abderrazek Aousja, the rate of work at the plant has reached 99 per cent. Aousja stated that financial challenges were responsible for the delay as the Italian EPC declared bankruptcy during the construction of the Tozeur 1 plant. On the other hand, the Tozeur plant was delayed because of supply chain and logistics challenges faced by the French manufacturer supplier in the wake of the pandemic.
Presently, the Tozeur 1 plant has been fitted with 31,000 PV panels which are now operational with a production capacity of 80 per cent. The Tozeur 2 plant has 29,000 thousand PV panels installed. Both plants will provide a cumulative capacity of 20MW, reducing Tunisia’s CO2 emissions by 17,000 tonnes annually. When completed, the plants will meet 30 per cent of the energy needs of the region of Tozeur.
The plants required investments of about €11.5 million each, in credit for each plant. The project should generate 200 jobs and another twenty for the operation. The plant was developed with support from the German Development Bank (KfW) who provided €11.5 million to the Tunisian government. In addition, the European Union provided a € 1.5 million donation while the German government provided € 0.5 million under the International Initiative for Climate Protection.