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Tunisia has incorporated a 50-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with storage project in Beni Mhira into the 2026 national energy plan of state-owned power and gas utility STEG (Societe Tunisienne de L'Electricite et du Gaz), Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Fatma Thabet Chiboub said.
The project, located at Beni Mhira in the Tataouine Governorate, includes a 20-MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and associated high voltage transmission infrastructure.
Local Arabic language media portal Mosaiquefm quoted the minister as saying that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has expressed its readiness to finance the project, located in South Tunisia, through a sovereign loan to STEG with technical, environmental and social due diligence studies to be completed in line with international standards.
Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, the Minister said, while responding to a question submitted by Member of Parliament Mustapha Boubakri representing Tataouine Governorate.
Senior loans of €40 million from EBRD and €20 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) have been provisioned to meet the project’s total cost of €60 million ($69.15 million), according to EBRD’s website.
The project is expected to reduce natural gas consumption by around 29,000 tonnes of oil equivalent annually and generate savings of approximately 33 million Tunisian dinars ($11 million) per year through lower fuel costs and improved efficiency.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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