MILAN, Oct. 22 (Class Editori) -- Terna strengthens the cooperation with Steg. Luigi Ferraris, managing director of the Italian electricity grid operator, and Moncef Harrabi, president of the Tunisian counterpart, signed a memorandum of understanding to intensify industrial cooperation in the area of electrical infrastructure and in particular the Elmed project, the submarine interconnection 600 MW in direct current that will connect the two countries.
About 200 km long, the work has been included in the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) by the European Commission due to its strategic importance for the security and energy sustainability of the two countries and for the creation of a Mediterranean electricity network that connects the North African countries together and with Europe, with a view to full market integration.
Interconnection will allow Italy and Tunisia to trade electricity, thus diversifying supplies and strengthening the reliability and resilience of the electricity networks of the two shores of the Mediterranean. In particular, in the long term, it will allow Tunisia to export electricity produced from renewable sources to North African countries.
"This agreement further strengthens the already established industrial cooperation relationship between Steg and Terna started in 2009, crucial to contribute to integrating the Italian and Tunisian – and therefore Euro-Mediterranean – electricity grids in a sustainable, safe and reliable manner, also with a view to expected development of renewable sources. The interconnection project is a solid prerequisite for our country to become the European hub of electricity transmission and dispatching in the Mediterranean," stressed Ferrari.
For several years there has been talk of a connection project with a submarine cable between Tunisia and Sicily, but only last year there was an acceleration thanks to the financing granted by the World bank of 13.4 million dollars to start the feasibility studies. The work, which should entail an investment of around 600 million euros, financed 50% by European funds and the rest equally jointly by the two companies, will link the North African electricity system with the European one.
Tunisia is one of the most attractive markets on the Mediterranean southern shore due to its geographical proximity to Italy: for the network of trade agreements with the European Union, the new legislation on attracting foreign investments and manufacturing specializations in particular in high-value added sectors. It is Italy's second commercial partner, after Turkey, in the Mediterranean area with exports in 2018 amounting to 3,469 million euros and an increase of 8.7% compared to 2017.
(Source: Class Editori)
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