WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

1.3.5 Tunisia
A subsidiary, STEG Énergies Renouvelables, was
27 MW put into operation in 2003). 6
Pascal Hauser and Kai Whiting, International Center on
Small Hydro Power
established in May 2010 as a private law company with
the main objective to contribute to the leadership and
the development of Tunisian Solar Plan (TSP). It aims to
Key facts
promote the national renewable energy policy through
Population 10,732,900 1
the development of public-private partnerships in
Area 155 360 km 2
renewable energy and energy efficiency, and to conduct
Climate The prevalent climate is temperate feasibility studies, construction, operation and
in the north with mild, rainy winters maintenance of renewable energy and cogeneration
and hot, dry summers. 1
power plants. 7 In early 2012, the Tunisian government
Topography Mountainous in the north; a hot, dry
indicated that it will revise existing legislation to allow
central plain and a semi-arid south
IPPs in renewable energy. Furthermore, tax incentives
that merges into the Sahara
are in place for energy conservation and renewable
energy projects, such as exemption of VAT on different
Rain Pattern The annual average precipitation in
Tunisia amounts to about 1,580 mm
products used for renewable energy technologies. 8
in the Atlas mountains in the northwest,
down to well below 50 mm in
The national electrification rate is 99.5 per cent: 100 per
the south. 3
cent in urban and 99 per cent in rural areas. 2
Hydropower 0.40%
Electricity sector overview
The electricity sector is fed predominately by gas-fired
Wind 1.20%
power plants from both natural gas from the country’s
Natural gas
98.30%
own reserves and imports from Algeria. More than 90
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
per cent of electricity generation comes from gas. The
total installed capacity from all energy sources is Figure 1 Electricity production in Tunisia
3,559 MW, generating 11,569 GWh/year. 2
Source: Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas 9
Note: Only includes STEG electricity production, not
The majority of the electricity used in Tunisia is IPPs.
produced locally by the Societé Tunisienne d’Électricité
et du Gaz (STEG), the national electric utility that is Small hydropower sector overview and potential
responsible for electricity generation, transmission, and Tunisia has a modest technically developable
distribution, as well as natural gas transport and hydropower potential. An important constituent, which
distribution. 4 Electricity consumption in Tunisia has has been developed for electricity production, can be
been increasing steadily for the past 30 years. From found in the northern part of the country. The
1976 to 2006 the registered annual growth rate was hydropower stations are in El Aroussia, Nebeur,
approximately 7.4 per cent. 5 It is expected to reach to Fernana, Kasseb, Sidi Salem, Bouhertma and Sejnane
about 32,000 GWh per year by 2030. 1
(their capacities are presented in table 2). Such
installations are permitted in this region due the
The state utility company has operated a monopoly for
many years and continues to demonstrate some
dominance of a Mediterranean climate, with hot and
dry summers and mild and relatively rainy winters. 4
resistance to private investment in the sector. The legal
framework allows independent power projects (autoproducers)with
the possibility of selling up to 30 per
cent excess back to the grid of STEG. The Independent
Power Producers (IPPs) for direct sale to STEG are
permitted only on a case-by-case basis. The share of
power of STEG’s equipment is around 85 per cent (2,846
MW). The remaining 15 per cent represents two IPP
Table 1 and figure 1 provide an overview of small
hydropower capacities in Tunisia. In 2010, the installed
67 MW capacity of hydropower generated 50 GWh,
which represented only 0.3 per cent of the total national
generation. This share will decrease steadily as the
country will continue to depend on natural gas for
power generation and developing other renewable
power plants, Rades II and El Bibane, managed energy resources such as solar and wind. 10 The total
respectively by: Carthage Power Company (with a
combined cycle of 471 MW putting into operation in
small hydropower installed capacity (2010) was 29 MW,
generating about 34 GWh of electricity (figure 2).
2002) and El Bibane (two gas turbines of a total capacity
92