European Commission grants Tunisia €307mln to support electricity connectivity project

The European Commission signed on Tuesday a grant agreement with the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) and the Italian electricity operator TERNA worth €307 million to finance ELMED interconnection project.

According to the Director-General of STEG Hisham Annan, the agreement, which is part of the energy transition, represents a strategic step towards operationalising a genuine energy bridge between Europe and North Africa.

STEG said in a statement that this is the first time that the European Communication Facility has allocated funding for an infrastructure project involving a member State of the European Union and a third State.

Tunisia’s electrical interconnection project with Italy consists of a 600-megawatt offshore cable linking Tunisia’s electricity systems (Menzel Temime, governorate of Nabeul) and Italy (Sicily).