- Dubai-based Amea Power has started building a 120 MW solar plant in Tunisia.
The project, located in northeastern Tunisia, is being implemented under a build-own-operate basis by Kairouan Solar Plant, a project company that is registered in Tunisia and fully owned by Amea Power.
Financial close was reached on the $86 million project in September 2023, due to funding from International Finance Corp. and the African Development Bank. Commissioning of the plan is scheduled for the final quarter of 2025. Once commissioned, it will be Amea Power’s first operational asset in Tunisia, generating 222 GWh of clean energy per year and powering more than 43,000 households.
Hussain Al Nowais, Amea’s Chairman, says the project is also Tunisia’s first privately-financed solar project.
“By taking advantage of its renewable energy resources, and its strategic location between North Africa and Europe, Tunisia can become a prime location for green energy and trade,” he added.
A 20-year power purchase agreement was signed in June 2021 with Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz, Tunisia’s state-owned national electricity and gas utility company. It was ratified by the government of Tunisia in May 2022.
Amea Power claims to have projects in 20 countries covering solar, energy storage, wind and green hydrogen, totaling more than 1.6 GW in operation and under or near construction, in addition to another 6 GW in the pipeline. In November 2023, it announced the closing and funding of a $75 million equity funding round from Japan’s Softbank Group.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Tunisia had deployed 506 MW of solar at the end of 2023, up from 197 MW at the end of 2022
Author: Patrick Jowett
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
