Italy's deputy prime minister and minister of economic development, Luigi di Maio, and Tunisian minister of industry Zied Ladhari have committed to build an extra-high voltage direct current electricity link between the Sicilian town of Partanna and the Cap Bon peninsula on the Tunisian coast, reports PV Magazine.

The "Elmed" project will make it possible to integrate the two electricity markets, significantly improving the interconnection of the EU system with North Africa, said Di Maio.

The project which was first begun in 2003 by the Italian grid operator Terna and Tunisian state-owned utility STEG was initially envisaged as a 1 GW power line which would export some 800 MW of energy to Italy. However, after recession in the EU economy and a resulting drop in power demand which led to overcapacity in Italy, the partners agreed to downsize the line to 600 MW.

The financing for the project is being arranged by the World Bank, with feasibility studies and a financial model expected to be completed by 2022.

Source: PV Magazine