Tunisia boosts renewables with ‘game-changing’ solar tender

LISBON (Reuters) – Tunisia is ready to select the winners of your “game-changing” 500 megawatt (MW) solar powered energy concessions tender by September the way it seeks to bring in more foreign purchase of renewable energy, industry along with minister Slim Feriani said on Wednesday.

The 16 shortlisted candidates will submit their final offers to the north African country’s government next month, Feriani said in the sidelines of your Africa Energy Forum in Lisbon.

The interested investors normally from Europe but additionally from The states and Asia, he told Reuters.

Describing the tender as ambitious, Feriani said he expected the winners to get started on producing solar powered energy within 12 to 18 months of the announcement.

“The tender would have been a game-changer because we intend to boost the creation of energy in Tunisia through non-harmful to the environment energy,” Feriani said. “This is the way the world goes.”

The 500 MW tender belongs to a bigger program launched by Tunisia’s government which expects to reach 3,500 MW of electrical power, both solar and wind, by 2030, covering 30% of your country’s electricity.

But Feriani now believes the land can go a pace further.

“Weight training set the goal of 3,500 MW we’re quite careful and cautious at the present time, given the speed of the way things are moving, we percieve the pace accelerating,” he was quoted saying.

“If we keep pushing you can easlily do a much more … we think three,500 MW may be accomplished much quicker than 2030,” he added.

Over earphones 20 years, Tunisia just has been able to produce around 300 MW of renewable power capacity, mainly wind and hydroelectric, Feriani said.

Even with many different economic problems, which include high inflation and unemployment, still to end up being resolved, Feriani asserted that since Tunisia’s transition to democracy this season, the country is actually able to rebuild confidence among investors in various economic sectors, beyond traditional tourism.

“The democratic world is quite keen to ascertain Tunisia being success story on this part of the world,” he stated. “Economy is mostly about confidence, motivate consumer confidence and also investor confidence.”

Asked whenever the conflict in neighboring Libya could have a negative affect on Tunisia’s energy sector, Feriani acknowledged that “there are many issues” but said Tunisia must “keep moving” and is also “open for business”.