Tunisia passes draft approval for ELMED loan: Tunisia’s House of Representatives approved a USD 268 mn loan extended by the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) to finance the EUR 1 bn ELMED electric interconnection project it is co-developing with Italy, Tunis African Press (TAP) reported on Tuesday. The Cabinet had approved the loan in November.

Updates: STEG is expected to channel EUR 582 mn toward development of the subsea power link — with the price tag increasing EUR 164 mn from previous estimates of EUR 850 mn, according to the news agency. The newly approved loan will be channeled toward financing building a power converter and accompanying substations on the Tunisian side, TAP notes.

Who else is chipping in? The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is contributing a grant of EUR 307.6 mn for the project. Other lenders include the European Investment Bank (EIB), the German Development Bank (KfW), and the EBRD, who approved an extension of a sovereign-backed senior loan of up to EUR 45 mn to STEG in December.

REFRESHER- The Tunisia-Italy 600 MW subsea interconnector will transport 400-600 MW of clean power generated from hydroelectricity and is targeting an operational launch by 2029. The high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission cable connecting the two countries will be operated and jointly owned by STEG and Italian transmission system operator Terna. The project will help STEG source clean power during summer peak hours, and export surplus energy to Europe in the winter, TAP writes.

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