Tunisia introduces new rules for self-consumption, net metering

The Tunisian government has issued a decree that will allow private companies to produce renewable energy for self-consumption purposes, with excess power to be sold to utility STEG under net metering rules, in addition to the right to sell electricity to large energy consumers.

The authorities did not specify the maximum limit for the sale of surplus power. The new rules set out  the conditions under which national grid infrastructure can be used by projects to sell electricity to third-party customers through bilateral PPAs.

The measures are also aimed at increasing the competitiveness of energy-intensive businesses in Tunisia, the government said. “They may now secure an important part of their electricity at a low and stable cost,” it explained, without providing additional details about the new scheme.

So far, the government has mainly supported large-scale solar projects through a series of tenders, including auctions for projects up to 10 MW and tenders for larger projects.

Tunisia had installed around 47 MW of solar by the end of 2018. Under its renewable energy strategy, the North African country aims to reach 4.7 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.