Use the “energy bridge” being built between Italy e Tunisia to help the North African country fight the consequences of climate change, combat the water crisis and encourage the development of sustainable agriculture. At the moment it is just an idea, a reversal of the perspective of the infrastructure project Elmed, the power line that will run between the Partanna power station, in Sicily, and that of Mlaabi, on the Tunisian peninsula of Cape Bon, for a total length of approximately 220 kilometers (of which approximately 200 kilos in submarine cable), with a power of 600 MW and a maximum depth of approximately 800 meters, reached along the Sicilian Channel. But it is also a real possibility, a great opportunity to allow Tunisia, suffering from a chronic shortage of water resources, to develop desalination plants for the treatment of highly salinity water, which require an enormous amount of electricity, of which however, it is missing.
The electric cable was designed above all with the aim of importing clean energy into Italy and Europe via Tunisia, a country which has enormous potential due to solar radiation, among the first in the world in the photovoltaic sector. But the North African nation currently produces very little energy from renewable sources, around 4,7 percent of the total including hydroelectric and wind power. Even assuming the Tunis government’s strategy of producing 35 percent by 2030 is correct, it is impossible that in 2028, when the power line will be completed, Tunisia will be able to generate enough electricity to be able to export it to Italy and Europe. . Suffice it to say that total electricity production in Tunisia actually fell by 7 percent in January 2024, with 1.440 gigawatt hours produced (including production through renewable energy sources), compared to 1.552 gigawatt hours in January 2023. Here, then, the electric cable along the Sicilian Channel becomes strategic but not to import “green” energy from North Africa, but to help the Tunisians across the street to cultivate their lands.
A choice, that of focusing on desalination, not without risks, first and foremost environmental. This type of installation, especially large ones, risks having serious consequences on local fauna. They also require a large expenditure of electricity that a country like Tunisia, which depends on gas imports from neighboring Algeria, probably cannot afford. Furthermore, it would be desirable for Tunisia to begin to make better use of the (little) water available. According to a September 2023 report by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), 20 percent of Tunisian citizens are threatened by water pollution. Samples taken of drinking water distributed by the public company Sonede revealed that the water does not meet standards, particularly in terms of bacteriological composition, which went from 9,9 percent in 2019 to 10,1 percent in 2020. The government, however, is building three seawater desalination plants in Gabès, Sfax and Sousse which should come into operation within this year. Four more stations should be built Tozeur, Kébili, Sidi Bouzid and Ben Guerdane.
Moreover, neighboring Algeria is also pursuing a strategy aimed at reducing dependence on natural water resources through the desalination of sea water. According to an article published by the information website “Tsa Algerie”, a program for the construction of desalination plants was started in 2003: 11 of the 13 plants planned along the coast have already been completed. Additional programs launched in recent years have led to the construction of three more stations, with a further five planned for 2024. The difference with Tunisia, however, is that Algeria has the natural gas to power virtually all of the desalination plants what he wants. The war in Ukraine has highlighted a serious food deficit in wheat-importing countries, including Tunisia. A scenario that the Arab countries, where bread is subsidized, are trying in every way to avoid and which could be compensated for, at least in part, with the reclamation of unused land. But to do that you need water. To have water you need skills, technology and energy. And in this Italy could provide an important contribution, also within the Mattei Plan.
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source: https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/tunisia-italy-how-the-elmed-energy-bridge-can-help-fight-climate-change/amp/
