The European Union plans to organise an investment forum to bring more private investment to Tunisia’s renewable sector, including hydrogen, this autumn.

The EU is also working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on renewables with Tunisia, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“The biggest area for investment we see is energy,” she said. “Energy is a win-win area. Tunisia is looking to harness its tremendous potential for renewable energy. And the European Union needs reliable energy suppliers of clean energy as we are electrifying our entire economy. Thus, we need to invest in our infrastructure so that Tunisia can export clean energy to Europe.”

The EU is investing more than €300m in the ELMED interconnector, an undersea electricity cable linking Tunisia to Italy.