A round oversubscribed twice over

The sixth round of the authorisation regime was open from 15 April to 15 June 2026. The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy called for 200 MW; it cleared more than double that.

This is the second consecutive step up. The previous round issued 186 preliminary authorisations for roughly 288 MWp. From one round to the next, the number of projects rises by two thirds and the capacity by more than half.

What STEG does here

The authorisation regime, created by law 2015-12 of May 2015, allows private developers to build plants of 1 to 10 MW and sell their output to the Société Tunisienne de l'Électricité et du Gaz. STEG is the sole offtaker and also determines the connection point after conducting its own network study. Purchase prices are set by ministerial order rather than by bidding: TND0.217 per kWh up to 1 MW, TND0.201 per kWh up to 2 MW, and TND0.142 per kWh between 2 and 10 MW. STEG accounted for 91% of national generation at the end of June 2026, so each of these 309 developers will sell to the incumbent it is displacing.

Tariffs fall with size, projects stay small

In euro terms, those tariffs are worth around 6.4 cents per kWh below 1 MW, 5.9 up to 2 MW and 4.2 between 2 and 10 MW. The top bracket is therefore paid a third less than the bottom one.

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Applicants overwhelmingly went the other way. 306 of the 309 projects cleared, or 99%, sit at 2 MW or below, in the two best-paid brackets. Only three reach the 10 MW ceiling. The regime is attracting exactly what it was designed for, mid-sized sponsors, landowners and SMEs, rather than developers able to absorb a lower tariff over a larger volume.

One regime among three

Authorisation is only one of the three routes open to the private sector under Tunisia's renewable energy plan. Concessions cover large projects, self-production serves households and industrial users consuming their own output, and authorisation occupies the middle tier: up to 10 MW for solar, 30 MW for wind, 15 MW for biomass and 5 MW for other sources.

Where those 455 MW sit

The successful projects are spread across a dozen governorates: Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid, Tataouine, Médenine, Kébili, Kairouan, Sfax, Kasserine, Sousse, Le Kef and Nabeul. Inland and southern governorates sit alongside coastal ones, which places part of the capacity far from demand centres and brings the conversation back to grid connection, which STEG alone assesses.

The target

Tunisia raised its renewables goal from 30% to 35% of the power mix by 2030, a revision made in 2022. Renewables accounted for 9.2% of generation at the end of June 2026, according to STEG's own figures. The national energy strategy sets the 2030 requirement at 4,850 MW of installed renewable capacity, making this round worth less than a tenth of that target.

What it means

What it means for public decision-makers The oversubscription is the finding here. Tunisia asked for 200 MW at prices it set itself, with no auction, a 10 MW ceiling and one state buyer, and drew more than twice that from 309 separate applicants. Most are individuals and small consortia in Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid, Kébili, Médenine and Tataouine rather than established developers on the coast. For a regulator elsewhere designing a small-scale regime, the signal is that administered tariffs and a size cap did not suppress appetite. They widened who could apply. The harder question Tunisia now inherits is whether STEG can connect and pay 309 counterparties at once, which is where regimes of this kind usually fail rather than at the application stage.

Sources: PV Magazine, Tunisia Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, Renewables Now, Renewables Now, Africa Energy Portal, La Presse de Tunisie, STEG, régime d'autorisation