The Voltalia energy company will be one of the key players in the revival of the Tunisian Solar Plan (PST). The French company has just won the contract to build a 130 MWp photovoltaic solar power plant near the town of Gafsa in south-west Tunisia. “We are delighted to have won this project. Thanks to attractive climatic conditions, favourable government policies and strong support from international financial institutions, Tunisia has great potential for renewable energy in the short and long term,” said Sébastien Clerc, Voltalia’s Managing Director.

The Paris-based company will build the solar power plant as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) under which the electricity generated will be sold for 30 years to Société tunisienne de l’électricité et du gaz (STEG). Voltalia plans to move ahead very quickly with the development of its project, with construction of the solar farm due to start in 2025. The facility will be connected to Tunisia’s national electricity grid in 2026, by which time it will be capable of supplying 70,000 Tunisian homes.

Voltalia believes that the implementation of this project will contribute to achieving the Tunisian government’s objective of “a 30% rate of electricity production from renewable sources by 2030, compared with 2.2% in 2023”. This target is achievable, given that Tunisia “has more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and solar energy is particularly competitive compared with thermal power plants, which depend mainly on imported natural gas”, says the company, which is majority-owned by the Mulliez Family Association (AFM).

For Tunisia, the challenge is to begin its energy transition away from its dependence on natural gas, which is used to produce 97% of its electricity. The North African country is counting on private investors like Voltalia. It joins UAE-based independent power producer Amea Power on the Tunisian market, which has just launched construction work on its 120 MWp solar power plant in Kairouan.