The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a €45 million loan to Tunisia’s Société tunisienne de l’électricité et du gaz (STEG) for a submarine power cable linking Tunisia and Italy.
STEG will combine the loan with a €307.6 million grant from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility, and financing from the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, and KfW to develop the 200-km 600 MW high-voltage direct current transmission network.
The project, which marks the first energy bridge between Italy and Tunisia, is expected to help ensure the stability of North Africa and Europe’s grid networks by facilitating increased integration of renewable energy and energy trading between the two blocs.
