A consortium formed by the French company Engie and the Moroccan company Nareva has been declared preferred bidder for the construction of the Gafsa photovoltaic power plant, which was launched as an international tender by the Tunisian Ministry of Mines and Energy and STEG (Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz”), AfricaNews reported.
The consortium will be responsible for developing, designing, financing, building, operating and maintaining the 120 MWp Gafsa photovoltaic power plant over a period of 20 years from commissioning.
This major project is one of the first solar IPP “Independent Power Producer” projects in Tunisia and is part of the renewable energy sector’s development program which is aiming to achieve 30% of the country’s renewable energy production by 2030.
The Gafsa plant is expected to supply more than 100,000 Tunisian homes per year and helps avoiding 150,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
This project is the first collaboration between ENGIE and NAREVA in Tunisia, after a joint experience in Morocco with the construction of the 300 MW Tarfaya wind farm, one of the largest wind parks in Africa.
Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa, said: “the successful outcome of this bid further cements our strategic long-term partnership with NAREVA.
Tunisia has engaged in an ambitious plan to build new renewable power generation capacity with an objective to install 3800 MW by 2030. The current program has shown very competitive results for the country and we are proud to be part of it.”
Saïd Elhadi, Chairman & CEO of NAREVA said: “we are delighted to develop this solar project that we have won with our partner ENGIE in Tunisia.
NAREVA is honored to contribute to the deployment of the Tunisian Solar Plan which is a cornerstone of the country’s energy transition policy”.
