Akuo Consortium Signs 10 MW Solar PPA with STEG in Tunisia
An independent global renewable energy power producer and developer Akuo in a consortium with its Tunisian partners HBG Holding, Hedi Bouchamaoui Group, and Nour Energy, a subsidiary of the Immobiliere Chaabane construction and real estate group, announces the signing of a power purchasing agreement with Societe Tunisienne de I'Electricite et du Gaz STEG, Tunisian electricity and gas company, for a 10 MWp solar plant, thus formalizing the Gabes project’s implementation. This signing marks Akuo’s entry on the Tunisian market and HBG Holding and Nour Energy’s intention of moving towards the renewable energy sector.
In order to diversify the country’s energy mix, the Tunisian government has put in place a program to develop renewable energies. It is within the context of this program that it has initiated the Tunisian Solar Plant, a national program aiming to increase the share of renewables in overall electricity production from 3% currently to 30% by 2030.
The power plant will be equipped with bifacial solar photovoltaic panels laid on trackers that can swivel in order to continually face the sun, thus allowing the panels to receive more sunlight. This project, located in Gabes governorate, is part of a local and sustainable approach, as jobs will be created throughout its life cycle: the site’s construction phase will enable close to 200 jobs to be created and its operational phase another 15. The plant will allow approximately 23 GWh of renewable and decentralized electricity to be produced locally each year, i.e. the equivalent of the consumption of more than 14,000 inhabitants. The project’s financing should be completed in 2021 and the site is expected to become operational in 2022.
Source : STRATEGIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE