Green transition: Tunisia focuses on decarbonization

The Director General of the ANME, Fathi Hanchi, states that a carbon accounting platform will be set up before the end of the year. It will allow companies to have quantifiable data on their carbon content, a necessary step before engaging in decarbonization efforts.

For exporting companies, decarbonization is no longer a choice today, but rather an economic requirement in a context where Europeans, Tunisia’s main economic partners, are increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint of their imports. To decarbonize, renewable energies are essential. “One of the important axes of the decarbonization strategy is investment in renewable energies. Today, we need to support companies by offering them various technological, technical, legal, and financial solutions to stimulate investment in self-generation projects,” explained Fathi Hanchi, Director General of the National Agency for Energy Management (ANME), in a statement to the media, on the sidelines of a seminar organized recently by the Tunisian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He added that the State, through ANME, has paved the way to encourage companies to self-generate renewable energies. In fact, this institution, through its Energy Transition Fund, subsidizes material and immaterial investments in such projects, especially for conducting studies. The fund has allowed, since its creation, energy savings of around 12 million Tep, with a total value of 11 billion dinars. Referring to the regulatory framework governing energy transition in Tunisia, Hanchi emphasized that the current regulations are very dynamic. “We have a conducive framework for investments in renewable energies established in 2009 and constantly evolving since then, especially with the publication of laws in 2015 and 2019 and subsequent texts on standard contracts and transportation costs. We also have a developed ecosystem of services. Therefore, we have all the necessary conditions to facilitate the realization and implementation of investments within the self-generation regime,” Hanchi pointed out.

Carbon tax, a constraint or an opportunity?

Furthermore, the Director mentioned that a carbon accounting platform should be launched by the end of the year. This platform, which he said should be certified by international organizations, will calculate the carbon content of various products and services in Tunisia and will be used as a starting point to initiate the decarbonization process for Tunisian industries. The goal is to avoid carbon taxes such as those planned by the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. “This product will be launched by the end of this year. Also, in September, we will organize a major Mediterranean forum on decarbonization with the participation of around thirty national and international partners. It will be an opportunity to present the industrial and service ecosystem in this field,” Hanchi mentioned. He added that ANME is working to support companies in dealing with these new requirements. According to him, Tunisian companies are now aware of the major challenge of decarbonization. “Our role is to support companies by helping them calculate their carbon content and then reduce it through energy efficiency and renewable energy measures,” he said. In Hanchi’s view, these environmental constraints can be a commercial opportunity for Tunisian companies. Tunisia, which already has a vast network of experts with over 600 accredited installers in the photovoltaic field and over 1,000 operators in energy efficiency, has a good chance of turning these challenges into an economic opportunity.