This paper is under consideration as Exploring Tunisia’s Renewable Energy Policies in the drivers of investment and Innovation in Energy Storage Technologies and in policymaking, how Tunisia’s Renewable Energy plans are translated into concrete projects, early-stage storage innovations, and grid stability and decarbonization.
Audience and Content Analysis
This paper is written with the aim of being engaging to three main audiences
- Policy Makers and Regulators, eager for simplicity-driven analysis of legislation reports such as Tunisia’s 2015 renewable energy law and Decree 2009/362 feed-in tariff decree to refine the country’s sight and attract investments.
- Financial Professionals and Investors, responsible for addressing numeric specs—that is, IRRs, levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), and risk analysis—to derive the commercial value of solar-plus-storage transactions such as recent 498 MW PV tenders.
- Project Developers and Technical Consultantsinterested in in-depth examination of storage architecture—battery chemistry, thermal design, and grid-forming inverters—in building resilient micro-grids and utility-scale BESS installations.
Tone them down by interlacing professional technical jargon (e.g., capacity mechanism, hybrid energy storage) with chat-up—borrowing metaphors like “batteries as digital reservoirs”—and content structures that feature neat H2/H3 headers, bullet points, and infographics when useful.
Tunisia’s Policy Landscape
Tunisia’s renewable policy is based on the Renewable Energy Policies of 2015, which provided:
- Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs)for solar and wind with a 0.20 EUR/kWh price guarantee to project developers.
- Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Licensingwhere the possibility of companies creating wholly-owned SPVs allowing them to generate power, thus making it bankable.
- Self-Consumptionincentives with the possibility of private consumers to balance on-site generation against grid, aiding distributed PV growth.
Under the new tendering, Tunisia auctioned 1.7 GW in several rounds—498 MW of solar PV in January 2025—with strong take-up and competitive bidding from international bidders.
Investment Environment
Utility-Scale Bidding and Financing
- 498 MW PV Auction: Won by international consortia, tariffs below 45 USD/MWh, indicative of the high confidence level of investors.
- 350–400 MW Solar-plus-Storage Project: Consultant to invite tenders for a 350–400 MW plant with yet-to-be-timed BESS, Tunisia’s first big solar-storage hybrid.
- Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Use multilateral finance (World Bank, GCF) to de-risk up-front investment costs, with stable offtake contracts financed by private equity.
Risk-Return Considerations
Investors take into account:
- LCOE Trends: Solar PV LCOE in Tunisia is around 35 USD/MWh, regionally competitive but currency movement and import charge sensitive.
- Regulatory Clarity: Grid interconnection and storage licensing regulations must be clarified to avoid roll-out delays of BESS.
Innovation in Energy Storage Technologies
Global innovations—flywheels, hybrid systems, and long-duration storage—are defining Tunisia’s road map to stabilize intermittent renewables. Most significant developments are:
- Lithium-ion Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS)with flywheels or supercapacitors as rapid response for frequency control and load levelling.
- Long-duration discharge (4–10 hours)Flow Batteries with vanadium or iron-chromium chemistries optimized to the Mediterranean climate.
- Thermal Management Enhanced: Phase-change materials and liquid-cooling provide up to maximum cell temperatures required by products like Huijue’s Outdoor Liquid-Cooled Energy Storage Cabinet 233KWh for use in hot and humid climates.
Case Studies & Examples
- Voltalia’s Menzel Habib Project: A 139 MW PV plant awarded in late 2024 with regard to co-locating batteries to reduce curtailment and provide stability services.
- IRENA Readiness Assessment: In a 2021 IRENA report, infrastructure deficiencies are faulted, recommending the upgrade of grids and pilot BESS installations to ensure redundancy.
- PV magazine Consultancy Brief: The World Bank consultancy invitation for a 350–400 MW solar-plus-storage project is proof of the country’s shift towards hybrid assets.
Anecdotes & Industry Insights
I recall speaking with a Tunisian engineer who likened initial BESS testing to “teaching camels to swim”—a cheeky analogy to installing batteries into a grid fueled by heat. But the real dividend is a micro-grid for remote Kasserine light clinics with electricity after dark, thanks to a modular liquid-cooled system buzzing along among the olive groves. That’s Innovation in Energy Storage Technologies at its finest—blending tradition and technology for a more vibrant, more sustainable Tunisia.