Power-to-X in Tunisia

In the context of raising importance of climate change, decarbonization of carbon-intensive sectors becomes increasingly crucial. Decarbonizing the industry, transport and energy sectors can be achieved with so-called green hydrogen and its derivates.Therefore, renewable energy is used to split water into its components hydrogen and oxygen in electrolyzers. In these plants electrical energy is converted into chemical energy - hydrogen. The produced hydrogren can be stored relatively easily as an energy carrier, either in gaseous form in pressure vessels, liquid form in vacuum-insulated containers and in metals at the molecular level. In addition, hydrogen can be converted to synthetic natural gas using CO2, and thus existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure or existing gas pipelines can be used for its transport. It can also further be transformed into chemical products such as ammonia or methanol. These processes are resumed under the term "Power-to-X" (PtX).

In April 2021, a study on the opportunities of PtX technologies in Tunisia has been finalized. Core findings are that Tunisia showcases favorable conditions to become a PtX producer and exporter with view to its renewable energy potential, proximity to Europe, and qualified workforce. However, the development of a PtX industry sector and its viability highly depend on three factors:

• the ambition level of international and national climate targets
• CO2 price
• technology readiness level (TRL)

If these conditions are favorable, Tunisia holds potential in the production of green hydrogen, green ammonia, and in the transport sector (heavy-duty road transport and potentially fuels for aviation and maritime transport). Click here to access the full study:

The study has been commissioned by the federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and conducted by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, and ALCOR. It was established under the auspices of the Tunisian-German Hydrogren Alliance which was founded in December 2020.