TUNIS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of three percent of the electricity is from renewable energy in Tunisia, President of Tunisian Association of Wind Energy (ATEE) Nafaa Bakari said Thursday.
He made the remarks during an international forum on renewable energy, energy efficiency and investment in energy infrastructure.
According to Bakari, Tunisia was able to make the first steps toward energy transition in a carbon-free economy. "We hope to reach 20 percent by 2020 and 22 percent by 2030," he said.
Since 2017, a series of international tenders were launched for the realization of major energy projects by the production of 1,000 megawatts from renewable energy, including 500 megawatts from solar photovoltaic energy and 500 megawatts from wind energy.
But all the ambitions arise within a non-favorable situation, aggravated by energy deficit in Tunisia that continues to weigh heavily on the country's trade balance and economy.
From January to November this year, Tunisia's energy deficit alone accounted for 32.4 percent of the overall deficit of the country's trade balance, according to National Institute of Statistics.