African Development Bank to Fund 100 MW Tunisian Solar Project

• The loan package is to co-finance the construction of the 100 MW Kairouan solar energy plant in Tunisia.
• The new financial aid covers $10 million and another EUR10 million from the Bank, as well as $17 million concessional financing from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).

The African Development Bank is playing an essential role in the development of renewable sources of energy in Africa to ensure that the resource-starved area can have access to power while sustaining the native environment. In a current development, the African Development Bank Group has accepted a $27 million and EUR10 million loan package to co-finance the building of the 100 MW Kairouan solar energy plant in Tunisia.

The new financial aid covers $10 million and one more EUR10 million from the Bank, and $17 million concessional financing from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), which is also managed by the African Development Bank. It claimed that added financing will come from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

The Kairouan solar energy plant is one of the five renewable projects granted in 2019 by the Tunisian government. The Bank claimed that the 100 MW solar project involves the style, construction, and procedure of a greenfield solar PV plant under the Build, Own as well as Operate (BOO) scheme.

Dr. Kevin Kariuki, VP, African Development Bank, said, "The 100 megawatts Kairouan Solar PV Project will not only be a leader for other grid-based solar and also wind independent power projects presently under development in Tunisia yet additionally a benchmark for bankability of renewable resource projects in the country as it is underpinned by robust and sustainable arrangements discussed over the last three years under extremely onerous market conditions."

Wale Shonibare, Director of Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and also Regulation at the African Development Bank, included, "The success of the purchase, which has reached the highest possible bankability standards adhering to months of arrangements with the Tunisian authorities, gives a valuable theme for future projects that will certainly aid move the country closer in the direction of achieving the government's 35% clean energy target."

Dr. Daniel Schroth from SEFA, noted that the concessional terms under the program will likely absorb the COVID-19-related project cost increase as well as maintain the project economics to acceptable levels to achieve financial close.

African Development Bank additionally stated that the Kairouan Solar project follows the New Deal on Energy for Africa of African Development Bank as well as the 'Light up and also Power Africa' High-5 strategic priority.

In May, the Energy Minister of Tunisia had actually revealed they will certainly launch worldwide tenders seeking proposals to construct 2,000 MW of renewable power capacity. Tunisia aims to produce 30% of power from renewables by the end of this decade. The government is also seeking to minimize its carbon intensity by 41% by 2030.