Tunisia, like all countries around the world, needs energy to develop and support its economy. It relies heavily on fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. In fact, these energy sources account for more than 90% of the primary energy consumed.
This heavy dependence on fossil fuels poses a challenge to energy security. It is therefore important to promote alternative energy sources.
Tunisia faces energy security challenges due to its strong dependence on oil and natural gas imports.
Measures have been taken to improve the situation, such as diversifying energy sources and optimizing renewable energy production. International cooperation is also crucial to ensuring energy security and price stability.
It is within this context that the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy has approved a program aimed at guiding major energy consumers and the general public toward more efficient energy consumption behaviors and technologies, with a budget of six million dinars.
Called the “Three-Year Program,” it includes digital communication campaigns, ongoing media campaigns, field campaigns, and sector-specific information campaigns, according to a decree by the Minister of Industry published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia (JORT).
Spanning three years, the program will be implemented by the National Agency for Energy Management (ANME), in accordance with the procedures manual approved by the decree of the Minister of Energy, Mines, and Energy Transition on September 1, 2020.
Financing energy efficiency projects in municipalities
It is worth recalling that ANME has launched the second call for expressions of interest for financing energy efficiency projects in municipalities, with the deadline approaching. The selected municipalities will be able to apply for loans from the CPSL.
This initiative is part of the ACTE program, launched by ANME in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, the Local Government Loans and Support Fund (CPSL), and the Center for Training and Decentralization Assistance.
The call aims to encourage Tunisian municipalities to develop innovative green projects in three main areas:
Energy efficiency: to optimize energy consumption in municipal buildings, vehicle fleets, and public lighting networks;
Renewable energy: mainly self-consumption projects designed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels;
Territorial studies: aimed at improving the energy performance of municipalities, including urban mobility studies.
Through this initiative, the ACTE program continues to strengthen the local energy transition, already launched with a first call in 2020, which selected 11 projects currently under implementation.
These projects, with a total investment of 2.7 million dinars, received a grant of more than 837,000 dinars from the Energy Transition Fund (FTE).
Each eligible municipality, in accordance with Decree No. 2014-3505 of September 30, 2014, can apply for this mechanism.
Municipalities must provide self-financing, but they can also obtain loans from the CPSL.
As for the subsidies granted by the FTE, they range from 20% to 70% of the total project cost, with ceilings ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 dinars.
