The subsea interconnector will run between Partanna, Sicily and El Haouaria, Tunisia.
The Italian and Tunisian governments have agreed to go ahead with the Elmed Mediterranean power interconnector, a 600-megawatt project which will connect the two countries' power grids.
The link was designated as a European Project of Common Interest in 2017, which means that it is eligible for funding from the EU. The rest of the funding is expected to be public-private partnerships.
A long time in the works, Italian transmission company Terna and Tunisian gas and electricity group STEG have been developing the project since 2003. Originally, the interconnector was expected to export Tunisian energy into Italy. It is now anticipated that the flow of electricity will go in the opposite direction.
The link will significantly improve the connection of the EU's electricity grid with North Africa making it possible to integrate the two markets, according to Luigi di Maio, Italy's deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development Minister.
It is expected that the power cable, which will run between Partanna, Sicily and El Haouaria, Tunisia, will be fully operational by 2025.
The cable is estimated at 192km in length. 32km of that will be laid underground in Sicily and 5km in Tunisia.
Renewable development in Tunisia will receive a massive boost from the Elmed project by giving access to a large reserve of back-up power to ease integration of intermittent wind and solar power.
A statement from the Italian government said: “The objective is to increase the safety and sustainability of electrical systems within an interconnected Euro-Mediterranean network, which also gives the possibility of covering part of the growing demand of African countries with energy produced by EU countries.”
The EU said in a statement that “the project will contribute to reduce, under specific conditions, present and future limitations to the power exchanges on the northern Italian border, with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia, and therefore it will allow to significantly increase the transmission capacity and its exploitation by at least 500 MW on that boundary.”
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