First floating solar station in Tunisia goes into operation

The first floating solar station in Tunisia has gone into operation. Omar Bey, an executive of the French renewable energy group Qair, the project’s operator made the announcement and said the project is considered the prototype for similar larger projects in the future.

The floating solar station sits on a lake next to a Tunis industrial park and has a capacity to generate 200 kilowatts. Using floating solar panels helps to conserve water resources whilst making the panels more energy efficient.

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Energy needs

“When we started at the time, it was the first project in Africa for a floating solar power plant, i.e. in the water. The originality of this project means we can use water instead of taking up land that can be used for other things like farming or homes. Floating solar panels first of all allow the reduction of water evaporation when they are installed on a water body. So this evaporation of water in countries like Tunisia, Which is water-stressed, certainly allows the dams to keep more water reserves,” said Mr. Omar Bey.

Tunisia mostly relies on gas imports to meet its primary energy needs: almost 97% of its electricity generation came from gas in 2016. However, energy policy puts the emphasis on renewable energy. Electricity generation from wind power strongly increased since 2014. In 2015 Tunisia set ambitious targets for renewables but last year green sources accounted for only 2.8% of the country’s energy mix and the rest came from natural gas.

“We’re blessed with a lot of sunshine in Tunisia, and it’s not like in other places such as the Gulf, the solar panels have the characteristics and the sunshine is good, and we can exploit it, so why not let everyone put up solar panels? The field is developing and will keep on doing so”, said Hassen Amiri, manager of Sater Solar Energy Company.