NEWS

The 450MW Rades C combined cycle power plant in Tunisia has started operations.

The combined cycle power plant was developed by a Mitsubishi Power-led consortium with Sumitomo Corporation and is owned by the Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG).

It is located 10km east of the Tunisian capital and will provide around 10% of the country’s current installed capacity. Rades C is now the highest efficiency plant in the country.

During a Consortium members meeting at the end of August STEG CEO Hichem Anene said electricity is a cornerstone of the country’s economic development. “The Rades C power plant will play a key role in accelerating Tunisia’s growth for decades to come.

“We want to thank Mitsubishi Power and all consortium partners for this landmark project that will help us meet our energy demand today with reliable, clean and efficient power across the country, and aiming to facilitate our energy transition with industry-leading solutions and decarbonisations technologies in Japan such as hydrogen, carbon capture and energy storage,” said Anene.

Rades C has been designed to contribute significantly to the reduction of CO2 with hydrogen-ready gas turbine technology that can be easily converted to J2 firing with minimal modification.

Combined cycle power plant is historic moment for Tunisia

Mitsubisihi Power CEO/President Hideshi Kawamoto said they were proud to celebrate the historic milestone of starting commercial operation “marketing the completion of one of the most modern, most efficient and highly reliable gas-fired power plants in the world and contributing to the further advancement of Tunisia.”

In addition to the high efficiency gas turbine, steam turbine and heat recovery steam generator, Mitsubishi Power will also provide a team of onsite technical advisors and supervisors to support the construction and commissioning of the plant. Sumitomo Corporation has provided the balance of plant equipment and is undertaking civil and installation works.

Mitsubishi Power is also providing maintenance of the power plant under a long-term service agreement. The project was financed by the Japanese Official Development Assistant organised by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure initiative.

The Rades C power plant used local content, materials, resources and equipment, creating 70 permanent jobs and around 2,000 additional jobs during project development and construction.