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Energy in Tunisia:
20 new oil wells, a surplus of 2 million tons of gas, and 40 projects for producing solar energy!
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THIS ARTICLE
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Date Published:
19 November 2009
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Published in:
Al-Sabah Daily
Tunisia
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Reporter(s):
Ali El Zaidy
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Original Language:
Arabic
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 View Original
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In spite of the financial crisis which still casts its shadow on the economies of countries all over the world -even if with discrepant acuteness or impact especially in the countries' vital sectors- yet informed sources from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and SMEs and the sectors active in the field of energy have announced that Tunisia's energy sector has kept its level of investments and activities without being that much influenced by the financial crisis.
In this field, the report shows that the above mentioned sector has kept the level of its activities during the months of the current year, moreover its activities have reached good levels of investments amounting to about 1900 million Dinar.
The informed sources have pointed out that 38 wells have been dug in the year 2008 in search for oil, against 14 wells in 2005. This has lead to 20 new discoveries during the three last years.
As for the field of natural gas production, the prognoses point to the fact that Tunisia is expected to achieve a surplus of natural gas which will reach 2 million tons equivalent to oil at the beginning of the year 2012. These expectations go back to the current and future projects in the medium term, analog to the "Sadr Baal" oil fields or the South Gas project.
Coverage rate of the Tunisian Energy Balance
On the other hand, it is announced that the percentage of covering the Tunisian energy balance has grown to 99,8%. The value of energy and fuel imports in Tunisia are about 19,19 billion Dinar during the first nine months of the current year. This is 48,5% less compared to the same period last year. The value of imports has reached about 37,28 billion Dinar according to the data of the National Statistics Institute, issued in this regard.
On the other hand, there was also a decrease of energy exports to around 19,15 billion Dinar during the first nine months of the current year, i.e. a decrease of 38,8% compared to the same period last year, when the value of exports had reached about 31,28 billion Tunisian Dinar.
The coverage rate of the balance of trade pertaining to the Tunisian energy has grown to 99,8%, thus the energy balance is experiencing quite a slight deficit (3,8 thousand Dinar) compared to the first nine months of the year 2008 (a deficit of about 600 million Dinar).
Consolidating the Infrastructure in the Energy Field
According to the source of information, the energy sector will on the other hand experience the consolidation of its infrastructure by implementing several projects that have been approved within the new presidential program (2009 – 2014). This basically aims at adding 400 km of pipelines for the transport of natural gas. This process will enable the consolidation of the transfer network that is to link 75 residential areas with the national network, thus raising the number of families connected to the natural gas network in 2014 to 800 thousand, instead of the current number of about a mere 530 thousand families.
With regard to consolidating the national energy for the production of electricity, we have learnt that they will reach 5 thousand megawatt in the year 2014 versus around 3500 megawatt at present. This is to be achieved through building new integrated power stations. There are furthermore the planned achievements of the Tunisian-Italian project which will link to the sea cables with a transfer capacity of 1000 megawatt and an electricity power station with a capacity of 1200 megawatt.
40 Projects for Solar Power Generation
On the one hand, Tunisia is preparing the implementation of several solar energy projects between the years 2010 – 2016. Those include 40 projects of solar energy and 7 for generating bio energy. On the other hand, investigative studies are being undertaken on the solar plan.
The cost of the said projects are expected to reach about 3,6 billion Dinar. The special relevant plan, when completed, will lead to saving energy of about additional 660 kilo tons equivalent to oil per year.
This project will furthermore avoid 1,3 million tons of carbon gas emissions per year. It is expected furthermore, that the Ministry of Industry, Energy and SMEs will cooperate with the National Agency for Energy Control on 11th of December next in organizing a national symposium to introduce the Solar Plan Project which will be implemented in the frame of the PPP (Public Private Partnership).
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