Italy and Tunisia are cooperating to promote the construction of the Elmed grid interconnection system

Italy and Tunisia have signed an agreement to continue advancing the proposed 600 MW Elmed submarine cable system
to join the country's power grid.

Italian Vice President Luigi di Maio and Tunisian Industry Minister Slim Feriana have signed an interconnection agreement this week, an EU project of common interest eligible for support funding
, according to a statement from Italy's Ministry of Economic Development.

According to reports, this high-voltage DC submarine cable system will connect Partanna in Sicily, Italy to El Hawaria in Tunisia, with a total length of about 192 kilometers
.
Of these, Sicily has 32 km of underground cables and 5 km
of Tunisia.

According to estimates by the European Transmission System Operators Network (Entso-e), the project will be developed and constructed by the corresponding transmission system operators, including Terna in Italy and Steg in Tunisia, and is expected to be completed
in 2025.

Elmed qualified for PCI in 2017 and has received funding from the World Bank for a feasibility study, which is currently
ongoing.

According to the ministry, the total cost of the project is estimated at 600 million euros ($672 million), half of which will be funded by the EU and the rest by public-private partnerships
.

In the short term, "the project will help to reduce existing and future restrictions
on electricity trade on Italy's northern border with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia under specific conditions.
"

As part of Italy's 2027 strategic plan, the country is strengthening its border capabilities with all of its northern neighbors, while an undersea cable with Montenegro is scheduled to come online
this year.

In the long run, connectivity across the Mediterranean is considered key to harnessing Tunisia's abundant solar resources, which have twice as many as Central Europe
.