Peak demand surges sharply
STEG’s chief executive said on July 15 that demand reached approximately 5,000 megawatts (MW) between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., nearly 30% above the usual level. The company did not, however, disclose detailed figures on the power actually available, or on the total volume of electricity shed. This situation contrasts with the country’s level of electrification.
Tunisia is indeed among the few African states to report electricity access close to 100%. That indicator, however, primarily measures the population’s connection to the grid, and does not necessarily reflect the system’s capacity to meet peak demand, nor the continuity of supply.
Power generation still dependent on Algerian gas
As of end-May 2026, natural gas still accounted for 91% of national electricity production, against just 9% for renewable energy, according to the National Observatory for Energy and Mines. At the same time, 63% of the country’s gas supply came from direct purchases from Algeria. An additional 11% corresponded to the in-kind royalty collected on the transit of Algerian gas to Italy. Nearly three-quarters of available gas therefore remained tied to Algerian flows.
This dependence is not limited to the fuel used in power plants. Tunisia also imports electricity directly, mainly from Algeria. Its neighbor, however, faces its own rapid rise in demand during heat waves, which can limit exportable volumes during peak periods, even though no official source establishes that it directly caused the Tunisian outages.
Betting on renewables and exports to Europe
Despite the outages and this dependence, Tunisia is already preparing a new phase involving the large-scale development of renewable energy and, eventually, electricity exchanges with Europe, notably through the ELMED interconnection with Italy. Emirati developer AMEA Power commissioned a 120-megawatt-peak (MWp) solar plant in Kairouan in December 2025. Norway’s Scatec has also launched new photovoltaic capacity and continues developing further projects in the country.
Progress nonetheless remains limited against the weight of gas. With 9% of national production at end-May 2026, renewables still need to scale up significantly before they can cover a substantial share of local demand and generate exportable surpluses. The ambition of building an energy hub to supply Europe therefore requires more local and independent power generation capacity than the construction of a submarine cable alone. It also demands a domestic grid capable of carrying that production, along with balancing and storage capabilities to meet peak periods.