Norwegian renewable energy developer Scatec has penned a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tunisian state utility Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG) for a 120MW solar PV power plant.
The Sidi Bouzid II power plant is co-owned by Scatec and Aeolus SAS (Aeolus), part of the Japanese conglomerate Toyota Tsusho Group, each holding a 50% stake. The two collaborated on the Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur solar projects—each with 60MW of capacity—last year. These are both currently under construction.
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Scatec is currently in dialogue with selected financial institutions regarding debt financing of the project. The total financing structure will be communicated at financial close, which is expected in the second half of 2025.
Terje Pilskog, Scatec’s CEO, said the PPA marks a significant milestone for Scatec in Tunisia and will support the country’s decarbonisation journey.
“Tunisia depends significantly on gas imports, making projects like this essential for diversifying the energy mix and achieving the country’s ambitious renewable energy goals,” said Pilskog.
The Sidi Bouzid II solar PV plant was among the projects selected as winners in a tender for over 500MW of solar capacity. This was part of a series of tenders aimed at installing 1.7GW of new renewable energy capacity in Tunisia.
Figures from Enerdata suggest that Tunisia will need to invest around US$300 million a year until 2030 to reach a threshold of 500MW of annual renewable energy capacity additions if it is to hit its target of accounting for 35% of power generation with renewable power.
Scatec’s Q3 2024 financial results revealed a strategy of divesting its assets (reducing its ownership or selling projects outright) which saw increased revenues and what Pilskog called increased “financial flexibility”.
For the full year, Scatec’s revenue reached NOK6.57 billion (US$620 million), up from the NOK4.72 billion registered in 2023. The Norwegian IPP ended the year with a year-on-year increase in net profit, from NOK1.12 billion in 2023 to NOK1.49 billion in 2024.
The Tunisian PPA comes just days after Scatec inked a 25-year PPA with Egypt Aluminium for a 1.1GW solar-plus-storage project in Egypt.
