Tunisia hosts MENALINKS consultation meeting and workshop on battery energy storage systems (BESS)
The MENALINKS programme, implemented by Guidehouse and its partners ALCOR, Elia Grid International (EGI), Fraunhofer ISI and others, continues its commitment to strengthening national capacity for the integration of renewable energy and storage solutions in Tunisia. In this context, a consultation meeting and workshop were held in Tunis, bringing together representatives from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME), Société Tunisienne de l'Électricité et du Gaz (STEG), Agence Nationale pour la Maîtrise de l'Énergie (ANME), Guidehouse, EGI, ALCOR and Fraunhofer ISI.
The aim of these meetings was to present the preliminary results of the report on centralised BESS (technical and regulatory aspects), discuss the initial analyses of the business case for decentralised BESS, and gather feedback from participants in order to guide the next steps of the MENALINKS programme in Tunisia.
Day 1: Consultation meeting (16 October)
The first day began with a welcome address and a presentation of the programme. Participants then attended presentations on policy and regulatory developments in Tunisia, as well as the status of BESS. The technical findings of the BESS report being developed by the MENALINKS programme, were presented, followed by a consultation on regulatory aspects and a plenary discussion on national needs and priorities for 2025–2026. The afternoon was devoted to a workshop on the System Advisor Model (SAM) economic modelling tool and the business case analysis of decentralised BESS, with a summary of preliminary decisions and the definition of the work agenda for MENALINKS.
Day 2: Technical and regulatory workshops (17 October)
The second day provided an opportunity to explore technical and regulatory priorities relating to the specificities of connecting BESSs through interactive workshops. Participants were able to discuss challenges and opportunities and formulate recommendations for the next stages of the project.
The meeting brought together 30 participants, mainly from MIME, STEG, ANME, as well as technical and institutional partners of the project. The discussions enabled the preliminary recommendations to be validated, Tunisia's new needs to be identified and MENALINKS' priorities for 2025-2026 to be defined. The press and stakeholders are invited to reach out for more details.
