The North African country of Tunisia has issued two renewable energy tenders totaling 1 gigawatt (GW), including a tender for 500 megawatts (MW) of solar PV and 500 MW of onshore wind.
The Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies published two small announcements late last week, announcing a “Pre-Qualification call for applications” for a solar PV tender worth 500 MW and an onshore wind tender worth 500 MW.
Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announcing the tender in early April
Image Credit: via Facebook
The announcements come over a month since Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced that his country would launch an international tender to build solar and wind plants worth approximately $1 billion (reported by Reuters).
At the time, the Prime Minister also announced a national program intended at reducing the energy vulnerability of low-income families in Tunisia that consume less than 100 kilowatt-hours per month — which numbers around 1 million families. The Tunisian Government will seek to equip these families with solar units to generate electricity, and help enable them to replace energy-consuming equipment like refrigerators and lighting fixtures.
The new renewable energy tenders will be developed under a Build Own Operate (BOO) model and interested developers are asked to submit their applications immediately.
Specifically, the Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies is aiming to build 500 MW worth of solar across the country: 50 MW in Tozeur, 50 MW in Sidi Bouzid, 100 MW in Kairouan, 100 MW in Gafsa, and 200 MW in Tataouine. Meanwhile, the 500 MW of wind power is set for Jbel Abderrahmane in Nabeul (200 MW), Jbel Tbaga in the governorate of Kebili (100 MW), and a final 200 MW to be proposed by the developer.
Image Credit: Dennis Jarvia, via Flickr
The officially announced tender comes hot on the heels of the announcement of the winners from a 70 MW solar tender, in which the Tunisian government awarded six 10 MW projects and four 1 MW projects, all of which received preliminary approval from the Ministry.
The solar tender was originally reported back in June of 2017 when media reports correctly predicted a 70 MW solar tender but also hinted at a 140 MW wind tender which, at the moment, seems to be missing.
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