Double-circuit overhead power line connecting that of “Metlaoui-Tozeur” to Sagdoud photovoltaic power plant to be constructed

A 150-kilovolt (kv) high-voltage double-circuit overhead power line connecting the existing "Metlaoui-Tozeur" power line to the Sagdoud (Gafsa) photovoltaic power plant will be constructed and operated under an Order of the Prime Minister dated June 24, 2024, published in the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic (JORT) No. 081 of July 2, 2024. Under the terms of this order, employees of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy and those of the Société Tunisienne de l'Electricité et du Gaz (STEG) and the contracting company are authorised to enter unbuilt properties not enclosed by walls or other equivalent fences and listed in the registers deposited at the seats of the governorates of Gafsa and Tozeur. Initially awarded to the ENGIE AFRIQUE SAS/NAREVA RENOUVELABLES group, the construction of the Gafsa power station was finally entrusted to the French renewable energy company Voltalia, which announced in May 2024 that it had won the contract to set up a 130 MW photovoltaic project in Gafsa. Voltalia explained that the project's revenues will come from a 30-year electricity sales contract signed with STEG, the Tunisian public operator. Construction will begin in 2025. Tunisia's national energy strategy for 2030 foresees the production of 35% of electricity from renewables, in addition to reducing the country's carbon intensity by 46% by 2030. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse