Survey on energy sector's new orientations

A survey on "Energy Orientations for New Tunisia" is now being conducted and will be presented to the Industry and Technology Ministry of the next government, Energy Managing Director at the Industry Ministry Khaled Kaddour said. The survey, which is inspired from the German experience in the renewable energies field, has four focuses: the development of national resources and infrastructure (production, transformation, transport, distribution and storage), the improvement of industrial integration, notably in renewable energies and research, and development fields, the sector's re-organisation and the regional gas and electricity networks' interconnection between Maghreb and European countries. "The German experience in renewable energies field is one of the most successful in the world," Mr. Kaddour commented during a workshop organised Tuesday in Tunis on "The Energy Sector's Strategic Vision: Tunisian and German Experiences." He pointed out that Tunisia exploits just 2% of its energy potentials, specifying that the renewable energies sector which had managed to create 370,000 jobs in 2010 in Germany, could absorb a large number of the Tunisian jobless. The guidelines of the survey, once materialised, will help, according to Mr. Khaled Kaddour, cover nationally the energy deficit which is weighing more and more heavily on the State budget; it will create jobs, meet the citizens' expectancies in matters of living quality, develop clean energies and thus contribute to sustainable development. Taking the floor during the workshop which was jointly organised with the German Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Security Ministry, Head of Division within this ministry Martin Schope presented "a win-win vision" of Tunisian-German co-operation in the renewable energies field. He specified, in this regard, that the renewable energies projects to be achieved with the European Union's support, should help cover Tunisia's energy needs, increase energy security in the country (adaptation to climate changes and social-economic development) and bring down the renewable energies' costs.