Tunisia is finally accelerating the deployment of its large-scale photovoltaic (PV) sector after years of slow progress, with construction now underway across multiple major projects, PV-Magazine reported.

The country’s Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy confirmed tangible progress under both the concession and authorisation frameworks designed to scale up solar capacity.

Under the concession regime, the first 500MW tender is nearing completion. The flagship 100 MW Kairouan plant is reportedly 95% complete and expected to be operational by the end of 2025. Following closely, the 50MW plants in Sidi Bouzid and Tozeur, financed in late 2024, are nearly 80% finished, with the Gafsa project anticipated online after 2026.

Further momentum comes from the second 800MW program, which recently awarded three 100MW projects to international developers: Qair International (El Ksar), Scatec (SCATC: OSL) (Mezzouna), and Voltalia (VLTSA: EPA) (Menzel Habib). Additionally, Qair was also awarded a 198MW plant at El Khobna under a separate 300MW tender.

Meanwhile, the authorisation system for smaller projects (under 10MW) is highly active, with 186 new agreements adding 288 MW awarded between late 2024 and mid-2025. This surge in activity is reflected in trade, as Tunisia imported 655 MW of Chinese PV panels between July 2024 and June 2025, placing it among Africa's top six solar importers. This combined push signals a significant turning point for Tunisia’s energy transition.

Tunisia's National Renewable Energy Plan, often called the Tunisian Solar Plan (PST), targets an ambitious goal of increasing the share of renewables in its electricity mix to 35% by 2030 to reduce reliance on costly imported natural gas.

The current focus is on rapidly accelerating the deployment of large-scale solar and wind projects, alongside developing a new national strategy for Green Hydrogen production and export to Europe via the SoutH2 pipeline.