Scatec starts building 120 MW of solar in Tunisia

Norwegian-headquartered renewables developer Scatec has started constructing the 120 MW Sidi Bouzid II solar plant in Tunisia after reaching financial close.

Total capital expenditure for the project is estimated at €96 million ($110.1 million) and is being financed by a combination of non-recourse debt and equity. Senior lenders for the project are the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and European Investment Bank, with additional grant funding from the EU Neighbourhood Investment Platform and guarantees from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus.

Scatec signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the project in December 2024 following a government tender. The company is developing the Sidi Bouzid II project alongside Aeolus SAS, part of the Japanese conglomerate Toyota Tsusho Group. The two parties both own 50% of the project.

The site is expected to reach commercial operations during the second half of 2027, with Scatec set to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), asset management and operations and maintenance services with an EPC scope of approximately 75% of capital expenditure.

Terje Pilskog, CEO of Scatec, said the Sidi Bouzid II project is the company’s third under construction in Tunisia.

Scatec and Aeolus switched on the 60 MW Sidi Bouzid project earlier this year. In January, Scatec announced it signed a 25-year PPA with Tunisian state utility STEG for the 120 MW Tataouine solar power plant.

Tunisia has over 2.4 GW of operational solar, according to figures available in the Africa Solar Industry Association’s (AFSIA) project database, including 357 MW of utility-scale solar. Last December, the country switched on a 120 MW solar project, its first above 100 MW.