Renewable Energy Pathways for Climate Mitigation and Energy Security in Tunisia: A Multi-Sector Review

Abstract

This study examines the role of renewable energy in addressing two major issues facing Tunisia: global climate change and the country's need to ensure its own energy future. The combination of increasing pressures from climate change and diminishing fossil fuels will require that Tunisia rapidly move toward a new, low-carbon, sustainable energy mix. Given its favorable geography and climatic/earth conditions, Tunisia presents significant opportunities for renewable energy production using solar and wind power. The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of Tunisia's renewable energy industry; and provide a comprehensive view of the current status of the renewable energy sector as well as how it is expected to develop for the long-term future of the sector with the aid of major renewable energy policy and technology drivers. The effects that climate change has had on the world (and especially Tunisia) will also be discussed. The many social-economic advantages of renewable energy include lessening of greenhouse gases, less reliance on imported oil, and job creation within the green energy sector. The integration of large scale renewable sources into Tunisia's electrical grid will create both opportunity for growth and challenge to the current power infrastructure which will require; upgrading of transmission and distribution grids, energy storage devices, and the regulatory environment in order to successfully integrate the renewable source into the current system. The report indicates that in order to reach the full potential of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in Tunisia, an integrated approach among all sectors is required in order to insure a climate resilient and sustainable future.