Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur Solar PV Plants (120MW)

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The project comprises the construction of two solar plants, located in Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur, Tunisia. The combined capacity of the plants is approximately 120 MW, 60 MW each. The sponsor companies are Scatec (Norway), and AEOLUS France), part of Toyota Tsusho Corporation (Japan). Their respective shares are 51% for Scatec, and 49% Aeolus. Two agreements were signed on September 19, 2024 at the Kasbah Palace between the Tunisian government and the two sponsors for the construction of solar power plants. The agreements were signed on the Tunisian side by Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Chiboub, and Minister of State Property and Land Affairs, Wajdi Hedhili, together with representatives from Norway and Japan and the CEOs of the two companies that won the tenders for the solar park projects. In 2019, Scatec was awarded 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA), with options for 10-year extension, with the Tunisian state utility Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG). The groundbreaking ceremony for the two stations is scheduled for September 26th 2024, and they are expected to be operational by 2025. Scatec will provide Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC), Asset Management (AM) and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) services with an EPC scope of approximately 84% of capex. The cost of the two plants is approximately €79 million or $87.9 million. It will be financed by non-recourse project finance debt, concessional loans, and equity from the partners. The Japanese carbon credit funding, which will be received post commercial operation date (COD), will effectively reduce the equity partners funding need to approximately 15 percent or $13.18m. The senior Lenders for the projects are European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco). The financing package of EBRD consists of a loan of up to $13.68m (€12.5 million), a concessional tranche of $ 8.9m (€8.2 million) extended by the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and $5m (€4.6 million) provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), both administered by EBRD. Poparco contributed $15.45m (disclosed in 2022). The loan funding was announced on August 6th, 2024. On July 3rd, 2024 the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) approved a guarantee of EUR 18.45m or $19.8m for the project. According to MIGA’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2013), the project is category B. The Tunisian government aims to increase the share of renewable energies to 35% of the country's energy mix by 2030. https://www.zawya.com/en/business/energy/tunisia-two-agreements-signed-to-build-solar-power-plants-in-sidi-bouzid-and-tozeur-h2c6axp4 ; https://www.toyota-tsusho.com/english/press/detail/240806_006449.html ; https://www.ebrd.com/news/2024/ebrd-promotes-renewable-energy-in-tunisia.html ; https://www.proparco.fr/en/actualites/scatec-and-toyota-tsusho-aeolus-join-forces-tunisia-solar-projects-support-proparco-and ; https://scatec.com/2024/08/05/scatec-and-aeolus-part-of-toyota-tsusho-group-join-forces-for-tunisia-solar-projects/ ; https://www.miga.org/project/tozeur-and-sidi-bouzid-solar-plants-0 ; https://www.cfaogroup.com/en/new-joint-venture-established-for-renewable-energy-in-africa/ ; https://scatec.com/2019/12/17/scatec-solar-awarded-projects-totaling-360-mw-in-tunisia/ ; https://www.env.go.jp/en/press/press_02622.html ; https://www.env.go.jp/content/000210197.pdf ; https://ebrdgeff.com/tunisia-gvc/granting-of-a-first-rank-loan-to-finance-the-construction-and-operation-of-a-50-mw-solar-photovoltaic-power-plant-in-sidi-bouzid-and-tozeur/