Dubai’s Amea Power brightens Tunisia’s solar ambitions

Creative Commons/IMF/Tamara Merino

• $86m project has 120MW capacity
• Will power 43,000 homes
• Tunisia 2030 goal is 3.8GW of solar

Dubai’s Amea Power has reached financial close on its first 120 megawatt (MW) solar project in Tunisia as the North African country seeks to boost its renewable energy production. 

The $86 million solar plant will be located in Metbassta, in the north-western Kairouan governate. It is being built by Kairouan Solar Plant, a company registered in Tunisia and owned by Amea Power. 

The project is being financed by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank.

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The government of Tunisia aims to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix to 35 percent by 2030. This will be a challenge for a country that is highly dependent on fossil fuel-based energy.  

Almost all of Tunisia’s electricity was generated from fossil fuels, mainly natural gas, in 2021. Nearly 45 percent of its natural gas needs were met through imports, mainly from Algeria.

Tunisia released tenders for two solar power projects in January. Each will have capacity of 100MW as the government aims to reach 3.8 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power by 2030 in a strategy known as Plan Solaire Tunisien.

The Amea Power project will generate 222GW of clean energy per year, enough to power more than 43,000 households, and is expected to be commissioned by mid-2025.

“This ambitious renewable energy project will not only bring more affordable, clean energy to the people of Tunisia, but it will help achieve its energy goals and attract more private investments into future green projects,” said Sérgio Pimenta, IFC’s vice president for Africa. 

Amea Power said it is rapidly expanding its investments in wind, solar, energy storage and green hydrogen. It has so far committed to mobilising $5 billion to achieve 5GW of renewable energy capacity in Africa by 2030. 

In July, the company signed a $75 million equity funding round from SoftBank Group Corp, a Japanese investment holding company.

This represented Amea Power’s first external equity funding following years of being privately funded by its founding shareholders, the AlNowais Investments.