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Tunis Allows Private Sector to Invest in Renewable Energy

A finished wind turbine complex is shown in southern Wyoming, US on July 21, 2009. REUTERS/Ed Stoddard/File Photo
A finished wind turbine complex is shown in southern Wyoming, US on July 21, 2009. REUTERS/Ed Stoddard/File Photo
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Tunis Allows Private Sector to Invest in Renewable Energy

A finished wind turbine complex is shown in southern Wyoming, US on July 21, 2009. REUTERS/Ed Stoddard/File Photo
A finished wind turbine complex is shown in southern Wyoming, US on July 21, 2009. REUTERS/Ed Stoddard/File Photo

Tunisian authorities have given for the first time a role to the private sector in wind energy production.

The Ministry of Industry and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises granted licenses to four foreign companies producing electricity from wind with a 120 Megawatt generating capacity and an overall investment of 400 million Tunisian dinars.

ABO WIND AG (Germany), UPC Tunisia Renewables (Netherlands) and French LUCIA HOLDING and VSB Energies Nouvelles got their projects approved in principle.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said during a ceremony held on the occasion that giving a boost to renewables (solar and wind energy) is a priority for the government.

“The government made considerable efforts in order to develop the legal and organisational aspects of the sector,” he added.

The firms will sell wind power to the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas (STEG) at prices ranging between 110 millimes and 135 millimes per kilowatt hour.

Tunisia’s energy deficit represents one third of the overall trade deficit, which has widened to a record level of about 19 billion dinars ($6.33 billion) in 2018 from 15.6 billion in 2017.

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Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world's largest energy consumer.

But concerns about soft economic conditions in Asia's biggest economies, China and Japan, capped gains.

Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel by 0014 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel, Reuters reported.

In the second quarter, the US economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualised rate of 2.8% as consumers spent more and businesses increased investments, Commerce Department data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted US gross domestic product would grow by 2.0% over the period.

At the same time, inflation pressures eased, which kept intact expectations that the Federal Reserve would move forward with a September interest rate cut. Lower interest rates tend to boost economic activity, which can spur oil demand.

Still, continued signs of trouble in parts of Asia limited oil price gains.

Core consumer prices in Japan's capital were up 2.2% in July from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, raising market expectations of an interest rate hike in the near term.

But an index that strips away energy costs, seen as a better gauge of underlying price trends, rose at the slowest annual pace in nearly two years, suggesting that price hikes are moderating due to soft consumption.

China, the world's biggest crude importer, surprised markets for a second time this week by conducting an unscheduled lending operation on Thursday at steeply lower rates, suggesting authorities are trying to provide heavier monetary stimulus to prop up the economy.