Tunisia and Libya sign agreement to connect electric grids

The Tunisian and Libyan electricity boards, respectively Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company and Libyan Electricity Authority, signed here with the German Siemens Electricity Foundation and the Indian Kamani Electricity Company contracts on implementation of the Tunisian-Libyan electric grid.

The project covers the extension of about 600 kilometers of 225 kilovolt intensity lines from Sidi Mansour in Tunisia to Abu Kamash in Libya, as well as construction of a new plant and the expansion of other plants in southern Tunisia.

Under the contract, the German company will construct the plants while the Indian firm will be in charge of extending the intensity lines.

The Kuwait-Based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development "AFESD" will contribute funds that be equally refunded by the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company and the Libyan Electricity Authority. The project is due to be functioning during the first quarter of 2001.

In addition to the exchange of energy between the two north African countries, the project will complete the Maghreban electricity inter-connection and will eventually help the northern and southern Mediterranean countries exchange energy.