Potential of concentrating solar power (CSP) technology in Tunisia and the possibility of interconnection with Europe

In this paper, the potentials of solar resources and the suitable factors for the deployment of concentrated solar power CSP in Tunisia were presented. This study was done in the framework of the enerMENA project which aims to prepare the ground towards a sustainable realization of CSP power plants in the North Africa and Middle-East countries. Moreover, the electrical interconnection between Tunisia and Italy and the opportunity of the exploitation of renewable energy sources such as CSP plants in North Africa by European countries, were discussed. In addition, solar radiations data and weather parameters values delivered by a specific network of solar radiation and weather data installed in the Tataouine region at the south of Tunisia, were discussed from the angle of fitting with CSP technology. Besides, simulations of 50 MW parabolic trough solar power plant based on the solar radiation and climatic data delivered by the installed station were performed. The energetic and economic performances of the Tunisian simulated plant were compared with a reference CSP plant Andasol in Spain. The results prove that Tunisia has very important solar resources suitable for the CSP deployment such as the direct solar radiation DNI. Even, the total annual production of electricity generated from the simulated field of Tataouine exceeds that of the plant of Andasol in Spain by an amount of 1793 MWhe. However, the total investment cost is more important in the case of Tataouine station in Tunisia. A concentrated solar power project becomes economically competitive in Tunisia when the majority of the plant components such the collectors structure, the mirrors and the storage system should be manufactured locally in Tunisia to minimize the transport fees and by the way create jobs and enhances the local industry to investigate in this field. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.