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The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), part of the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, has approved a guarantee of up to €13.05 million ($15.3 million) for 20 years to support the 100-megawatt (MW) Sidi Bouzid II solar project, located in Mezzouna, Tunisia.
The guarantee has been issued to France-based AEOLUS SAS, a joint venture between Japan's Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation and France's CFAO SAS, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Toyota Tsusho Corporation.
The guarantee supports AEOLUS' equity investment in Scatec Khobna PV Power SARL, the project company developing the solar power plant in partnership with Norway's Scatec.
Apart from a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant, the project also includes 12-kilometre long high-voltage transmission infrastructure.
The project had achieved final close last month.
Electricity generated by the project will be sold to Tunisia's state-owned utility, Société Tunisienne de l'Electricité et du Gaz (STEG), under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The project is being financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with additional support from the European Union through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) guarantee mechanism and grant funding.
The guarantee also benefits from reinsurance provided by Japan's export credit agency, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).
The project is expected to start commercial operation in the second half of 2027.
Earlier this year, the Scatec-AEOLUS consortium commissioned the Sidi Bouzid I and Tozeur solar projects. In 2024, MIGA issued a separate €18.45 million guarantee supporting AEOLUS' investments in those two projects.
Tunisia currently generates around 94 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels and is targeting an increase in the share of renewable energy to 35 percent of electricity generation by 2030.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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