Promotion of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in Tunisia

Overview

Tunisia is located...

Renewable Energies

Solar Water Heater

The “PROSOL”-programme started in 2005 to revitalize the Tunisian solar water heater
market. The financing scheme consists of a capital cost subsidy up to 55 Euros, provided by
the Tunisian government, a loan mechanism for domestic customers to purchase SWHs,
paid back through the electricity bill and discounted rates on the loans.
The suppliers, who act as indirect lenders for their customers, must be accredited by the
Tunesian Energy Agency (ANME). People eligible to PROSOL must have an electricity
service contract with STEG.

The “Collective Prosol Programme” in Tunisia, a subsidy programme for solar thermal installations
in the tertiary sector, started back in 2007. The application rate was low first, but then
the commercial solar thermal market gained certain momentum. The National Agency for
Energy Conservation (ANME) designed the financial scheme in cooperation with the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2008. The programme aimed at the installation
of 60,000 m2 of collector area in the tertiary sector between 2008 and 2011, including 80
hotels. This aim has been missed by far at the end of 2011.

The main great achievement of the PROSOL programme is to succeed in shifting a cashbased
market to a credit-based market reducing the weigh of such investment on the purchasing
power of the population. The water heater market has doubled in
10 years from 550,000 units in 1999 to 1,180,000 in 2009. LPG-fired boilers still dominate the
market with a share of 65%, decreasing form 72% in 2004. Electric water heaters have been
reduced from 19% auf 6% of the market due to the growing share of natural gas heaters and
solar water heaters. According to estimates made by the National Agency for Energy Efficiency
(ANME) solar thermal technology for water heating could satisfy 70% to 80% of the
water heating needs in the residential sector. In September 2010, in the residential sector
only and for heating purposes (no cooling) 470,000 m2 were installed. All the panels are flatplate
collectors and 100% of the systems installed are passive solar systems as they are all
Integral Collector Storage (ICS) units. The number of companies SWHs, eligible within
Prosol, has reached 47 by the end of 2010. By the same time, 1,042 installers were acting in
the market.

Detailed analysis on the collective SWH market in Tunisia can be downloaded here ("Etude du développement des systèmes solaires thermiques collectifs dans le résidentiel", 2011, CAMI):

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Wind Energy

The transmission grid

Photovoltaics

So far, only approximately 3,5 MW of PV systems on solar roofs have been installed (2013). Besides,
Tunisia is currently revising its Solar Plan with the goal of accelerating set goals and facilitating
legal procedures. In addition, decisions on the future electricity mix for Tunisia are expected
for the coming months, which may imply PV installation goals of ca. 2 GW by 2030
depending on the chosen scenario.
To foster the PV development in the residential sector the project PROSOL-ELEC has been
implemented in Tunisia. This includes a grant from the National Fund for Energy Conservation
(FNME) representing 30% of the investment costs of the PV system and a ceiling of
2,300 TND per kWp. Further incentives include the provision of a credit for the PV system.

Concentrating Solar Power

The transmission grid

Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency in the Industry

The Tunisian primary en...

Energy Efficiency in buildings

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