Tunisian and Saudi Arabian government officials, along with representatives from Dubai-based AMEA Power, closed financing this week for a $86 million, 120 MW solar plant in northern Tunisia.

AMEA Power secured the project through a tender in 2019, as part of Tunisia’s Concession Regime initiative, aimed at ramping up solar project development in the country.

This marks the first of five solar plants awarded under Tunisia's 100 MW tender scheme to achieve financial closure. The consortium that won the tender submitted a bid of TND 97.92 ($30.83)/MWh, which was one of the lowest global bids for solar at the time.

The plant will be operated by Kairouan Solar Plant, a subsidiary of AMEA Power. It is funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The project will become operational by mid-2025, under a build-own-operate (BOO) model, with the goal of producing 222 GWh of clean energy per year.

Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani noted the government's strong commitment to developing the Kairouan solar project as a significant step in the country's energy transition. Tunisia, heavily reliant on gas imports, aims to achieve 35% renewable energy production by 2025.

Sérgio Pimenta, IFC's vice president for Africa, said the project will attract private investment for other renewable projects in Tunisia. Kevin Kariuki,

According to recent statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Tunisia had 197 MW of installed solar capacity by the end of 2022.