The Ministry for Energy, Mines and Renewable Energy of Tunisia has received five bids in its 500 MW solar tender launched in November 2018. All bids were below the US$3c/kWh price threshold: the lowest bid was US$2.44c/kWh for a 200 MW project in the Tataouine province, two bidders offered US$2.7c/kWh for two 50 MW projects in the Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur provinces, while bidders offered US$2.72c/kWh for a 100 MW project in the province of Gafsa and US$2.86c/kWh for a 100 MW project in the province of Kairouan.
Tunisia had pre-qualified 16 bidders for the tender, including Enel, Engie, Total and EDF, and plans to select the winners by September 2019. Solar power generation from the winning projects could start in 2021. The 500 MW solar tender is part of Tunisia's strategy to reach 3,500 MW of renewable (solar and wind) by 2030, enough to cover 30% of the electricity consumption. Tunisia's renewable capacity only reached 339 MW in 2018, including 240 MW of wind, 62 MW of hydropower and 37 MW of solar. Renewables account for less than 3% of total power generation in the country.
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