Tunisia's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy has launched a tender for the development of a 300-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant with a battery energy storage system under a public-private partnership model in the governorate of Kébili. The Bazma-Kébili photovoltaic power plant with BESS system will be developed in Bazma and include a 150MW / 540MWh BESS system, implemented under a concession agreement according to Invitation to Tender No. 01-2026 issued by the ministry last week.

Project Specifications and Timeline

The planned solar facility will be built on a site covering approximately 440 hectares. Tender documents will be provided to developers who register to participate in the bidding process, with registration open until 8 May 2026. The deadline for submitting bids has been set for 14 October 2026 at 12:00 Tunis time.

The Bazma-Kebili solar PV with BESS project was initially slated to have a capacity of 350 MW with BESS capacity (unspecified) within a portfolio of 2,350 megawatts of wind and solar projects cleared for tendering in 2026, according to a December 2025 report by Agence Tunis Afrique Press.

Broader Renewable Energy Portfolio

The wind tenders cleared by the High Committee for Private Electricity Generation, chaired by Prime Minister Sarah Zaafrani Zenzri, included 600 MW in Djebel Tebaga in Kebili governorate, 400 MW in Djebel Abderrahman in Nabeul governorate, and 200 MW in El Guettar in Gafsa governorate.

Additional wind sites subject to wind assessment included 200 MW in Zaghouan governorate, 500 MW Ksar El Jeri in Beni Khedache, Medenine governorate, and 100 MW Oum Dharbane in Feriana, Kasserine governorate. The High Committee also approved a 77.25 MW wind farm in Zaghouan as part of a 600 MW concession scheme and two 100 MW solar power plants in Tataouine and Gabes under an 800 MW concession scheme.

Current Operations and Development Partners

Trial operations have started at two solar power plants in Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur with a capacity of 50 MW each. The project is being developed by Norway's Scatec in partnership with Aeolus, a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Group, and is expected to start operations in the first half of 2026.

Tunisia aims to generate 35 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2030. In February 2026, Zawya Projects reported that Tunisia granted 187 licences to boost self-generation renewable energy projects.

World Bank Financing Program

In November 2025, the World Bank and the Tunisian government concluded a financing agreement to support Tunisia's energy sector modernisation agenda through the Tunisia Energy Reliability, Efficiency, and Governance Improvement Programme (TEREG). This five-year program of $430 million includes $30 million in concessional financing from the Climate Investment Funds.

The program aims to support Tunisia's goal of mobilising $2.8 billion in private investment to add 2.8 GW of new solar and wind capacity by 2028, and create over 30,000 jobs, primarily during the construction phase of renewable projects. The programme also targets reduction in electricity supply costs by 23 percent, improvement of STEG's cost recovery from 60 to 80 percent, and reduction of subsidies by 2.045 billion Tunisian dinars from the State's budget.

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