The Board of Directors of the African development bank (AfDB) has approved the granting of a loan envelope, consisting of approximately 35.5 million euros to co-finance the construction of a 100 megawatt solar power plant in Kairouan in central Tunisia.
The approval concerns USD 10 million and EUR 10 million from the Bank, as well as USD 17 million in concessional financing granted through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a special multi-donor fund whose Bank has the management, specifies the AfDB in a press release.
She noted that additional funding will be provided by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank Group and the Clean Technology Fund (FTC).
The project includes the design, construction and operation of a photovoltaic solar power plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts, under a “BOO” type program (build, own, operate), explains the same source. , adding that the project is located in El Metbassta, in the Kairouan North region, some 150 km south of Tunis. It is one of the five green projects awarded in 2019 by the government.
The pioneering nature of the Kairouan solar project
Quoted in the press release, Kevin Kariuki, AfDB Vice-President in charge of Electricity, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, indicated that “the 100 megawatt solar photovoltaic project in Kairouan will not only be pioneer for other solar and wind energy projects independent of the network, which is being developed in Tunisia today, but also a reference for the viability of renewable energy projects in the country, because it is underpinned by strong and durable agreements, negotiated over the last three years under extremely onerous market conditions”.
And to highlight the success of the transaction, which meets the highest standards of financial viability, following months of negotiations with the Tunisian authorities, constituting a useful model for future projects, which “will help the country to come closer of the 35% clean energy target that the government has set”.
The Kairouan solar project aligns with Tunisia’s Nationally Determined Contributions and its goal of reducing carbon emissions by focusing on a transition to renewable energy sources. It also responds to the “New Deal” on energy for South Africa. African development bank and to one of its strategic priorities, the “High-5s”, “light up and power Africa”.
