TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia granted licenses to four international firms to build solar farms with a total capacity of 500 megawatts, together worth 1.2 billion dinars ($386.31 million), the energy ministry said on Monday.
Licenses were awarded to French firm Qair International SAS to build two plants with a total capacity of 300 MW, Voltalia for a 100 MW solar farm, and Norway’s Scatec and Japanese firm Aeolus, a unit of Toyota Tsusho, for a 100 MW project, the ministry said.
The projects are the first to be awarded in Tunisia’s international tender for renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 1,700 MW.
The Tunisian government last year approved a plan to develop 1,700 MW of renewables capacity by 2027, looking to save $200 million annually by reducing use of natural gas.
Tunisia, mostly dependent on gas-fired power, aims to generate 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
($1 = 3.1063 Tunisian dinars)
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Sonali Paul)
