Dubai, UAE — AMEA Power, a renewable energy company, said Wednesday it has reached financial close on its 120MW solar PV project in Tunisia.
When commissioned, the US$86 million project will be the company’s first operational asset in the country.
The solar plant is being implemented by Kairouan Solar Plant, a project company registered in Tunisia and wholly owned by AMEA Power, and will be located in Metbassta, Kairouan governorate. The project is being financed by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The project was awarded to AMEA Power in December 2019, further to an international tender program launched by the Ministry of Industry and SMEs in Tunisia. The Concession Agreement and the Power Purchase Agreement were signed in June 2021 and ratified by the government of Tunisia in May 2022.
This is the first solar project to reach financial close under the concession regime in Tunisia. The concession regime covers projects over 10MW solar PV, awarded through competitive bidding.
The solar project is being built under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model and will generate 222 GWh of clean energy per year, enough to power more than 43,000 households. The solar plant is expected to be commissioned by mid-2025 and will avoid 117,000 tons of CO2 over the course of its life.
The government of Tunisia aims to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 35% by 2030.