Solar PPA

A 10MWp solar PV project in Gabès has signed a power purchase agreement with Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz.The project is owned by France’s Akuo Energy Afrique in a consortium with its Tunisian partners HBG Holding, owned by the Hédi Bouchamaoui family, and Immobilière Chaabane group company Nour Energy.

Akuo said the project marked its entry into the Tunisian market and its partners’first move into the renewable energy sector.Tunisia aims to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity production from 3% currently to 30% by 2030 (AE 397/15).

The $6.5m project is expected to generate 23MWh/yr and will consist of bi-facial solar PV panels mounted on trackers that rotate to follow the sun. It is part of the second 70MW round of a solar procurement programme announced in May 2017, in which 60MW of capacity was allocated to projects with up to 10MW capacity and 10MW allocated to smaller 1MW projects.

Akuo told African Energy financial close for the project was expected in H2 2021, and the project was scheduled to come online in H1 2022.